Christopher Allen (critic)

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Christopher Allen (born 1953) [1] is an Australian art historian, critic, and educator.

Contents

Biography

Born in Algiers to Australian parents, Allen was educated in the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Japan, France and Australia. [1] [2] He graduated in 1975 from the University of New South Wales with a Bachelor of Arts in French (First Class Honours, University Medal) and won a scholarship to study for his Maîtrise ès lettres (Master of Arts) at the University of Aix-en-Provence and the Collège de France. [2] Allen was the inaugural manager at the Performance Space in Redfern in 1983. [2] [3] In 1992 he completed his PhD at the University of Sydney. [1]

He was art critic for The Sydney Morning Herald from 1987 until 1991 and for the Australian Financial Review from 2005 until 2008. Since 2008 he is the national art critic for The Australian .

Allen has taught art history and theory at the National Art School from 1997 until 2008. He is Senior Master in Academic Extension at Sydney Grammar School since 2009 and teaches Classical Greek, Latin and senior Art History. [4] He was appointed to the Library Council of New South Wales (State Library) Board in 2019 for three-year term. [4]

In his critiques of works and artists, Allen emphasises craftmanship, skill, and formal and aesthetic qualities. He deplores "bland, decorative surface[s]" and he points to "pseudo-political contemporary art", especially as expressed in the wall labels in museums. [5] Large-scale portraits, as commonly submitted to the Archibald Prize, are regular subjects of his criticism. [6]

Personal life

Allen is the grandson of World War II Major General Arthur Samuel "Tubby" Allen, the son of Robert Allen and brother of writer, performer and filmmaker Richard James Allen. [7] He is married to Australian painter Michelle Hiscock. [2]

Publications

As author

As editor/contributor

As translator

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Christopher Allen papers, 1979–1998, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Christopher Allen", interview by Margaret Throsby, Radio National, 18 April 2015
  3. Matthew Westwood (1 July 2022). "Critic in the frame" . The Australian . p. 14. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Revised Boards announced for NSW Cultural Institutions", Museums and Galleries of NSW, 6 December 2019
  5. "Sydney: home of meaningless, lazy, lurid art" by Christopher Allen, The Weekend Australian , 22–23 August 2020
  6. "Archibald 2019: When a portrait is a snap to paint" by Christopher Allen, The Australian , 3 May 2019
  7. Profile, AustLit
  8. "Rubénisme versus Poussinisme" by Christopher Allen, Diploma Lecture Series 2012: Absolutism to enlightenment: European art and culture 1665–1765, 14/15 March 2012. Art Gallery Society of NSW
  9. "Review of Charles-Alphonse Dufresnoy, De Arte Graphica" by Giovanni Mazzaferro, Letteratura artistica, 14 June 2019