Robert Hughes

Who was Robert Hughes?

Robert Studley Forrest Hughes AO was an Australian-born art critic, writer, and producer of television documentaries. His best seller The Fatal Shore is a study of the British penal colonies and early history of Australia. He was described by Robert Boynton of The New York Times as "the most famous art critic in the world."

Hughes earned widespread recognition for his book and television series on Modern art, The Shock of the New, and for his longstanding position as art critic with TIME magazine. Known for his contentious critiques of art and artists, Hughes was generally conservative in his tastes, although he did not belong to a particular philosophical camp. Raising criticism to the level of art, his writing was noted for its power and elegance.