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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.

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VISUAL ARTReview

Macquarie University History Museum. Picture: Jesse Taylor

Tales drawn from antiquity

Objects in the Macquarie University History Museum have inspired an artistic response to their depiction of myths and fables.

Christopher Allen

ReviewReview

JENNER, Isaac Walter England/Australia b.1836 d.1902 Cape Chudleigh, Coast of Labrador 1893, reworked 1895 Oil on canvas on composition board 76.5 x 126.9cm Acc. 1:0014 Gift of the artist 1895

A little known but rare talent

Painter Isaac Walter Jenner’s personal maritime history and self-taught approach make him a 19th-century artist of distinction, as an exhibition at the Queensland Art Gallery shows.

Christopher Allen

visual artsReview

Wedgwood: Master Potter to the Universe exhibition. Sydney Cove Medallion1789, earthenware using clay from Sydney Cove. Wedgwood (Britain,established 1759), Henry Webber, designer, William Hackwood, modeler.Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales. Bequest of L. RichardSmith, 2003

Ingredients of a master potter

Josiah Wedgwood was driven by enormous entrepreneurial energy and a desire to experiment, as shown in an Adelaide exhibition.

Christopher Allen

visual artsReview

Detail: Albert Namatji ra MacDonnell Ranges at Heavitree Gap c. 1950s National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Presented by Esso Australia Pty Ltd, 2018 © Namatjira Legacy Trust/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia Image courtesy of N GV

‘Before I was an artist, all I ever saw were the tracks on the ground… now I see the beauty’

Albert Namatjira’s landscapes deserve to be considered as an intercultural phenomenon because the artist not only learned a new style of painting but a different way of seeing the world.

Christopher Allen

BEST OF 2023Review

EMBARGO FOR TWAM 16 DEC 2023. FEE MAY APPLY. Installation of Louise Bourgeois 'Maman' at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, November 2023, photo Â© Art Gallery of New South Wales, Felicity Jenkins ***These images may only be used in conjunction with editorial coverage of the 'Louise Bourgeois: Has the Day Invaded the Night or Has the Night Invaded the Day?' exhibition, 25 November 2023 â 28 April 2024, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and strictly in accordance with the terms of access to these images â see artgallery.nsw.gov.au/info/access-to-agnsw-media-room-tcs. Without limiting those terms, these images must not be cropped or overwritten; prior approval in writing is required for use as a cover; caption details must accompany reproductions of the images; and archiving is not permitted.*** Media contact: media@ag.nsw.gov.au

The best (and worst) art of 2023

After a year of seeking out the best art in Australia’s regions and cities, our critic weighs in on the highs and lows for gallerygoers.

Christopher Allen

commentaryCommentary

02-08-2023 - Sally Scales is seen at The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice: A Dialogue for Students event hosted by the Australian National University in Canberra. Picture: Martin Ollman / The Australian

If art lacks authenticity you can’t brush over it

Aboriginal artist Sally Scales seems to believe in a ‘post-truth’ version of reality where if you assert something often enough it must be right.

Christopher Allen

EXHIBITIONSReview

Royal Doors with the Annunciation, Albania or Northern Greece, 16th century, Onoufrios of Neokastro (active 16th century)Royal Doors with the AnnunciationAlbania or Northern Greece, 16th centuryOnoufrios of Neokastro (active 16th century)Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse HunnifordImage Courtesy Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, AustraliaShowing in Heavenly beings: icons of the Christian Orthodox world

From Caravaggio to Egyptian antiquities – the best summer art shows are here

From a blockbuster celebrating a pharaoh to exhibitions celebrating Picasso and Van Gogh, there are plenty of visual delights on offer at home and abroad | See the full list.

Christopher Allen

commentaryCommentary

Stills taken from video where a non-indigenous employee is seen contributing to a painting by (Indigenous) artist Yaritji Young. The employee wearing darker clothing and holding a paint brush is Rosie Palmer, manager of Tjala Art in the settlement of Amata in the APY Lands.

There’s no brushing off this scandal now

News that the APY art centre has been referred for further investigation is a vindication of the important work done by Greg Bearup – and an implicit rebuff to NGA head Nick Mitzevich.

Christopher Allen

visual artsReview

Vasily Kandinsky, Blue mountain, 1908-09, oil on canvas, 107.3 x 97.6 cm, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Founding Collection, by gift, photo courtesy Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation ***These images may only be used in conjunction with editorial coverage of Kandinsky at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 4 November 2023 to 10 March 2024, and strictly in accordance with the terms of access to these images â€“ see .artgallery.nsw.gov.au/info/access-to-agnsw-media-room-tcs . Without limiting those terms, these images must not be cropped or overwritten; prior approval in writing is required for use as a cover; caption details must accompany reproductions of the images; and archiving is not permitted.*** Media contact: media@ag.nsw.gov.au

How war shaped Kandinsky’s art

An exhibition about the Russian painter at Art Gallery of NSW reminds us that hope can prevail even under difficult political circumstances.

Christopher Allen

Time warpReview

David Moore Migrants arriving in Sydney 1966 gelatin silver photograph 26.7 × 40.4 cm National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Purchased, 1991 © Estate of David Moore

What’s wrong with this picture exhibition

This historical photographic survey includes many important images, but its non-chronological approach is confusing.

Christopher Allen

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