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Christopher Allen has been The Australian’s national art critic since 2008. He is an art historian and educator, teaching classical Greek and Latin. He has written an edited several books including Art in Australia and believes that the history of art in this country is often underestimated.

Latest

Review

Lotte Reiniger’s 1922 film Cinderella (Aschenputtel).

Moral of the story

A new exhibition devoted to fairy tales shows artists trying to make old stories conform to what we want them to say.

Christopher Allen

Review

Cities of shadows

Rick Amor: Painting SilenceHamilton Art Gallery to 4 March

Christopher Allen

Review

Rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus moluccanus) by Ferdinand Bauer (1802).

Picking the perfect hue

The question of colour in natural history illustration is the focus of a small but absorbing exhibition.

Christopher Allen

Review

27/10/2017: Pipilotti Rist is a pioneering Swiss-born video and installation artist exhibiting a survey of her works in the MCA exhibition, Sip My Ocean. Photographed with one of the works on Friday. Hollie Adams/The Australian

A sip from Pip? No thanks

Behold the superficial and trashy production of a rich girl who has managed to convince the international art world to take her seriously.

Christopher Allen

Review

Albert Tucker’s Back beach rock pool (c.1980s)

Natural habitat

Many artists have worked around Port Philip and Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery has devoted exhibitions to them.

Christopher Allen

Review

NGV Salon. Artworks are prepared for hanging at the NGV. Art handler James Young

Cheek by jowl

The National Gallery of Victoria has found a way to display more of its collection: the centuries-old Salon style.

Christopher Allen

Review

Patricia PiccininiNewborn 2010silicone, Forton, steel, human hair, possum pelt19 x 24 x 17 cmCollection of Paris NeilsonCourtesy of the artist, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne and Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco From the exhibition: Hyper RealNational Gallery of Australia 20 Oct 2017 – 18 Feb 2018 To be used in conjunction with exhibition only; not to be altered; must credit

This could get ugly

At the National Gallery’s Hyper Real exhibition the most striking thing is the initial confusion between the art and the viewer.

Christopher Allen

Review

Artists Jimmy J. Thaiday and Solomon Charlie with Emarr Totol, 2017; Courtesy the artists and Erub Arts Collaborative, photo: Lynnette Griffiths From the exhibition: TARNANTHI Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Art Gallery of SA 13 October until 28 January 2018 To be used in conjunction with exhibition only; not to be altered; must credit

Suspended imagination

Moral and political groupthink is affecting our art, as can be seen in the season’s big shows, here and overseas.

Christopher Allen

Visual Arts

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JULY 28: Artist Jun Chen stands behind Ray Hughes, subject of his entry titled 'Ray Hughes' at the winners announcement for the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes at Art Gallery Of NSW on July 28, 2017 in Sydney, Australia. The Archibald winner receives $100,000 for the best painting of a notable Australian. The $50,000 Wynne Prize is awarded to the best landscape painting of Australian scenery or figurative sculpture, while the $40,000 Sulman Prize is given to the best subject painting, genre painting or mural project in oil, acrylic, watercolour or mixed media. (Photo by Don Arnold/WireImage)

Hughes added colour to art world

Ray Hughes had no truck with the pretentiousness of some gallery owners but was fiercely loyal to those artists he chose to show.

Christopher Allen

Review

Johannes Vermeer’s Woman in blue reading a letter (1663).

Mapping our lives

For the Dutch, the 17th century was truly a golden time: the high point and the defining era of their national history.

Christopher Allen

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/christopher-allen/page/42