This is not a snapshot
Christopher AllenI remember thinking long ago that Rene Magritte was essentially the favourite painter of people who don’t like painting.
Method to the monuments
CHRISTOPHER ALLENThe selection of work is as always eclectic, reflecting the general uncertainty about the purpose and place of art in contemporary society.
A landscape reimagined
Christopher AllenFred Williams changed the way we see our environment: his work must be seen within our history of landscape painting.
Worthy chip off the old block
CHRISTOPHER ALLENCressida Campbell’s work seems to represent an intimately and thoroughly familiar environment.
CommentMorality in own time and place
CHRISTOPHER ALLENDonald Friend was exceptionally talented, although he never quite achieved the recognition one might have expected.
Living in style
Christopher AllenInhabitants of modernist dwellings may be living in the alienation of self-representation, not the reality of home.
Mexican parables
Christopher AllenThis show captures the pathos and endurance, the stoicism and the restricted mental world, of Mexico’s peasant masses.
Distinct impressions
CHRISTOPHER ALLENThe best of the work of Roberts, Streeton and Conder is largely responsive to local conditions, and is thus original.
Despair of the nobodies
Christopher AllenIt is not often that there is an exhibition of portraits of nobodies, people who have made no impact on history.
In search of an answer
CHRISTOPHER ALLENEuropean exploration and mapping of our land is an integral part of our universal history, as a new exhibition shows.
The return of kitsch
Christopher AllenWere the 1990s as miserable and disoriented as this NGV retrospective makes them appear?
The science of sound
CHRISTOPHER ALLENA fascinating exhibition at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum explores the human voice, in all its variations.
Utterly void of meaning
CHRISTOPHER ALLENSydney’s planned new sculpture should be free of controversy, because it is utterly void of meaning.
Changing times
CHRISTOPHER ALLENAn NGV show takes the viewer on a journey from delight in a new vision of humanity to the Depression.
Bowled over by the beauty
CHRISTOPHER ALLENSteve Harrison has devoted years to researching the traditional arts by which the finest porcelain is made.
Beyond the wave
Christopher AllenAll the effects of Japanese ukiyo-e prints are beautifully exemplified in the work of Katsushika Hokusai.
Out of the revolution
Christopher AllenThe idea that the avant-garde had some affinity with revolutionary politics is beguiling but misleading.
A display of unity
Christopher AllenAn exhibition on the Great Strike of 1917 shows how dramatically Australia has changed in 100 years.
A matter of perspective
Christopher AllenThe exhibition of press photographs by Mervyn Bishop show his mastery of the medium.
CommentCriticism shows generation divide
CHRISTOPHER ALLENIt’s well known that both artist and subject can be significant factors in winning the Archibald Prize.
Real-world views
Christopher AllenThe Victoria Watercolours exhibition says much about British art in the 19th century.
Paint from life, avoid blow-ups
CHRISTOPHER ALLENThe best Archibald entries are neither oversized nor based on photographs.
Divine inspiration
Christopher AllenThe original teaching of Buddhism was remarkably simple but it did not stay simple for long.
Thoughtful study in progression
Christopher AllenWilliam Dobell caused a furore with his Archibald Prize winning portrait of a friend.
Devoted to the past
CHRISTOPHER ALLENAn exhibition of Syrian artefacts highlights the devotion of historians in the face of Islamist vandals.
Every picture masks a story
christopher allenMelodrama is ever present in these prints from Japanese novels popular at the turn of the last century.
Message received
CHRISTOPHER ALLENAngelica Mesiti has long been interested in modes of human communication over distances and in proximity.
Between two worlds
CHRISTOPHER ALLENAlgerian-French artist Kader Attia tackles cultural loss and displacement, but through the prism of repair.
Human nature
CHRISTOPHER ALLENPhotographer David Stephenson’s work navigates the delicate balance of art and politics.
Vincent’s harvest
CHRISTOPHER ALLENThere are many misunderstandings about Van Gogh, including that he painted under the inspiration of insanity.
