Christopher Allen is Senior Master in Academic Extension at Sydney Grammar School, and National Art Critic for The Australian. He is a Trustee of the State Library of New South Wales and is the author of several books on the history of Australian art and French art in the 17th century, as well as a major postdoctoral work on early modern art theory. Previously, Allen was lecturer in Art History and Theory at the National Art School in Sydney and was an art critic for the Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Financial Review.