Christopher Allen (born 1953)Christopher Allen papers, 1979–1998
Mitchell Library,

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establis ...

is an Australian

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

, and educator.

Biography

Born in Algiers to Australian parents, Allen was educated in the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Japan, France and Australia."Christopher Allen"
interview by

Margaret Throsby Margaret Ellen Throsby AM, (born 1941) is an Australian radio and television broadcaster. She is known for having interviewed thousands of notable people for Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio programs. Early life Margaret Ellen Throsb ...

Radio National ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an Australian nationwide public service radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. ...

, 18 April 2015 He graduated in 1975 from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in French (

First Class Honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

, University Medal) and won a scholarship to study for his (

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

) at the University of Aix-en-Provence and the

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

. Allen was the inaugural manager at the Performance Space in Redfern in 1983. In 1992 he completed his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. He was

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

for ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' from 1987 until 1991 and for the ''

Australian Financial Review The ''Australian Financial Review'' (''AFR'') is an Australian compact daily newspaper with a focus on business, politics and economic affairs. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and has been published continuously since its foun ...

'' from 2005 until 2008. Since 2008 he has written for ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

,'' the last major daily with a regular contributing critic. Allen has taught art history and theory at the

National Art School The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts ...

from 1997 until 2008. He is Senior Master in Academic Extension at

Sydney Grammar School Sydney Grammar School (SGS, colloquially known as Grammar) is an independent, non-denominational day school for boys, located in Sydney, Australia. Incorporated in 1854 by an Act of Parliament and opened in 1857, the school claims to offer "c ...

since 2009 and teaches

Classical Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archa ...

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and senior Art History. He was appointed to the Library Council of New South Wales (State Library) Board in 2019 for three-year term."Revised Boards announced for NSW Cultural Institutions"
Museums and Galleries of NSW, 6 December 2019 In his critiques of works and artists, Allen emphasises craftmanship, skill, and formal and

aesthetic Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,'' , acces ...

qualities. He deplores "bland, decorative surface and he points to "pseudo-political contemporary art", especially as expressed in the wall labels in museums. Large-scale portraits, as commonly submitted to the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

, are regular subjects of his criticism.

Personal life

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

Publications

As author

*''La tradition du classicisme : essai sur la pratique et la théorie de la peinture classique de la Renaissance au dix-septième siècle français'', thesis University of Sydney (1991) *''Art in Australia: From Colonization to Postmodernism'' (Thames & Hudson, 1997) *''French Painting in the Golden Age'' (Thames & Hudson, 2003) *''Charles-Alphonse Dufresnoy, De Arte Graphica'' (translation and commentary, Librairie Droz, Geneva 2005, with Yasmin Haskell, Frances Muecke), on Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy's ''De arte graphica''"Review of ''Charles-Alphonse Dufresnoy, De Arte Graphica''"
by Giovanni Mazzaferro, Letteratura artistica, 14 June 2019 *"Jeffrey Smart: Unpublished Paintings 1940–2007", essay ( Philip Bacon Galleries, 2008) , on

Jeffrey Smart Frank Jeffrey Edson Smart (26 July 1921 – 20 June 2013) was an expatriate Australian painter known for his precisionist depictions of urban landscapes that are "full of private jokes and playful allusions". Smart was born and educated ...

*''Salient: Contemporary Artists at the Western Front: 1918–2018 One Hundred Years On'' (King Street Gallery on William, 2018)

As editor/contributor

*''Richard Goodwin'', editor (Oliver Freeman Editions, 1992) , on Richard J. Goodwin *''Ari Purhonen'', editor (1992) *''Van Gogh: His Sources, Genius and Influence'' (1993) * Philip Hardie, ed. (2002). "Ovid in art". '' The Cambridge Companion to

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 336–367. . . * ''A Companion to Australian Art'', editor (Wiley-Blackwell, 2021), *

As translator

* Thuillier, Jacques, Christopher Allen (translator). ''

Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the Classicism, classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and ...

before Rome''. exh. cat. New York: Richard Feigen (1995)

References

External links

Articles by Christopher Allen
in ''

''
Articles by Christopher Allen
''

Australian Book Review ''Australian Book Review'' is an Australian arts and literary review. Created in 1961, ''ABR'' is an independent non-profit organisation that publishes articles, reviews, commentaries, essays, and new writing. The aims of the magazine are " ...

'' *, arts.afterhours, 8 June 2010,

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Christopher 1953 births Living people University of New South Wales alumni Aix-Marseille University alumni Collège de France alumni University of Sydney alumni Australian art critics Australian art historians Australian art educators Australian schoolteachers Classics educators The Australian journalists