- In full:
- Robert Studley Forrest Hughes
- Born:
- July 28, 1938, Sydney, Australia
- Died:
- August 6, 2012, Bronx, New York, U.S. (aged 74)
- Subjects Of Study:
- modern art
Robert Hughes
-
Who was Robert Hughes?
Robert Hughes (1938–2012) was an Australian art critic, writer, and television personality known for his knowledgeable, opinionated criticism and accessible writing style.
Hughes initially studied law and architecture but found his passion in art criticism, writing for Australian journals. In 1970, he became the art critic for Time magazine. His eight-part television series, The Shock of the New, which premiered on PBS in 1981, explored modern art and architecture. Hughes also wrote books such as The Fatal Shore, Barcelona, and Goya.
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What is Robert Hughes known for?
Robert Hughes (1938–2012) was an Australian art critic and television personality, notable for his accessible writing style and informed, opinionated criticism.
Hughes began his career drawing political cartoons for local newspapers and writing art criticism for Australian journals. In 1970, he became the art critic for Time magazine after moving to London and producing art documentaries for BBC-TV.
His eight-part television series The Shock of the New, which explored the impact of modern art and architecture, appeared on PBS in 1981 and showcased his critical style and frank viewpoint. Hughes also authored The Fatal Shore, a history of Australia, as well as Barcelona and The Culture of Complaint.
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What did Robert Hughes do as an art critic?
Robert Hughes was an Australian art critic and television personality recognized for his knowledgeable, opinionated criticism and succinct writing. Hughes wrote art criticism for Australian journals such as the Observer and the Nation, after covering an art show for a newspaper that fired its critic.
As a critic, Hughes gained visibility writing for Time, The New York Times, The Village Voice, and Arts Magazine. His criticism commented on art randomly available in galleries and museums, taking their lead from institutions rather than being guided by a single theory.
Hughes also co-hosted the ABC-TV newsmagazine series 20/20. He later rebounded with the eight-part television series The Shock of the New, an exploration of the impact of modern art and architecture.
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How did Robert Hughes influence the way people think about art?
Robert Hughes, an Australian art critic and television personality, significantly impacted how people perceived art through his informed and opinionated criticism, coupled with an accessible writing style. As a critic for Time magazine, he reached a broad audience, further amplified by his PBS television series, The Shock of the New, which explored modern art and architecture. Hughes's refreshingly frank viewpoint and penetrating appraisals challenged conventional thinking, influencing both the art world and the public's understanding of art. His approach was journalistic, commenting on art in galleries and museums and taking his lead from institutions rather than being guided by a single theory.
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What television programs did Robert Hughes create or host?
Robert Hughes was an Australian art critic and television personality. In 1978, he co-hosted the ABC-TV newsmagazine series 20/20. Hughes is known for his eight-part television series, The Shock of the New, which premiered on PBS in 1981. The show explored the impact of modern art and architecture. In 1997, he launched another eight-part television series for PBS called American Visions: The Epic History of Art in America, exploring the emergence of art in the United States as a reflection of contemporary political and social events. In 2000, a six-part series, Australia: Beyond the Fatal Shore, was broadcast on PBS.
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How did Robert Hughes's background in Australia shape his views on art and culture?
Robert Hughes, born in Sydney, Australia, in 1938, developed his views on art and culture through direct experiences. After abandoning his formal studies, Hughes began drawing political cartoons for local newspapers and writing art criticism for Australian journals. His interest in modern art led him to write criticism for publications like The Observer and The Nation. In 1961, he was contracted to write a history of Australian art. His early career in Australia shaped his critical style and perspective, which he carried with him as he explored art and culture on a global scale.
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Robert Hughes (born July 28, 1938, Sydney, Australia—died August 6, 2012, Bronx, New York, U.S.) was an Australian art critic and television personality known for his informed and highly opinionated criticism and his accessible and succinct writing style.
After graduating (1956) from St. Ignatius College, a Jesuit school in Sydney, Hughes entered the University of Sydney. Though initially drawn to law and architecture, he flunked out of school after his first year. He abandoned his studies and, though not formally trained, began painting and drawing political cartoons for local newspapers. He turned to art criticism when he covered an art show for a newspaper that had fired its critic. His lifelong interest in modern art inspired him to continue writing criticism for such Australian journals as the Observer and the Nation. In 1961 Hughes was hired to write an exhibition catalog and contracted by Penguin Books to write a history of Australian art. Though he completed his studies in architecture in 1962, he had already found his niche in art criticism.
Hughes moved to Italy in 1964, traveling extensively to study firsthand the painting and architecture of Europe. The result was a second book, Heaven and Hell in Western Art (1968). By that time he had settled in London and had established himself as a freelance writer for The Observer and the Sunday Times newspapers. He also produced dozens of art documentaries for BBC-TV. On the basis of his growing reputation, he was hired in 1970 by Time magazine to serve as its art critic.
Hughes’s television initiation in the United States came in 1978 when he was named cohost of the ABC-TV newsmagazine series 20/20. His debut was a failure, but he later rebounded with the eight-part television series The Shock of the New, an exploration of the impact of modern art and architecture. Appearing on PBS in 1981, the series showcased his prickly, critical style, his refreshingly frank viewpoint, and his penetrating appraisals.
Other books followed, including The Fatal Shore (1987), an epic history of Hughes’s native Australia, as well as Barcelona (1992) and The Culture of Complaint (1993). Hughes, the only critic to twice receive the College Art Association’s Frank Jewett Mather Award for art journalism (1982 and 1985), also received the Order of Australia (1991) and was elected (1993) to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
In 1997 Hughes launched another eight-part television series for PBS called American Visions: The Epic History of Art in America. Like his richly illustrated companion book of the same title, the highly acclaimed series explored the emergence of art in the United States as a reflection of contemporary political and social events. A six-part series, Australia: Beyond the Fatal Shore, was broadcast on PBS in 2000.
That same year Hughes was named Writer of the Year by the London Sunday Times. In 2004 he published Goya, a well-received biography of the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya. His tell-all memoir, Things I Didn’t Know, was released in 2006. Rome: A Cultural, Visual and Personal History (2011) contains writings on his own experience of Rome as well as its history. Selections of previously published work, along with portions of an unfinished memoir, were collected in The Spectacle of Skill (2015).
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