Robert Hughes has died

[robertoart]

and in the spirit of Robert Hughes - I would just like to say - he was a pompous, overprivileged wanker, who showed his true colours when his back was against the wall

[sidewinder]

Remember seeing his 'Shock of the New' when it was broadcast (was it really as long ago as 1980? ) RIP.

[robertoart]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euPx2QWVl3E&feature=relmfu

[A Lark Ascending]

Remember seeing his 'Shock of the New' when it was broadcast (was it really as long ago as 1980? ) RIP.

Yes, I found that really fascinating, coming from a background that knew nothing of 'The Arts' - helped explain and create a bit of curiosity about painting that was well outside my comfort zone.

'The Fatal Shore' is one of those books I keep meaning to read.

R.I.P.

[robertoart]

Remember seeing his 'Shock of the New' when it was broadcast (was it really as long ago as 1980? ) RIP.

Yes, I found that really fascinating, coming from a background that knew nothing of 'The Arts' - helped explain and create a bit of curiosity about painting that was well outside my comfort zone.

'The Fatal Shore' is one of those books I keep meaning to read.

R.I.P.

Hughes was at his best when he stuck to International Visual Art, not Australian tyranny. Everyone looking to explore the history of the fatal shore, would be better off reading a contemporary book by Alexis Wright or Kim Scott for a deeper perspective.

Edited August 7, 2012 by freelancer

[kinuta]

Remember seeing his 'Shock of the New' when it was broadcast (was it really as long ago as 1980? ) RIP.

Yes, I found that really fascinating, coming from a background that knew nothing of 'The Arts' - helped explain and create a bit of curiosity about painting that was well outside my comfort zone.

'The Fatal Shore' is one of those books I keep meaning to read.

R.I.P.

The Fatal Shore is a very interesting book. I read it before I realised he was an art critic !

R.I.P.

[romualdo]

Remember seeing his 'Shock of the New' when it was broadcast (was it really as long ago as 1980? ) RIP.

Remember that series well - even bought the book that mirrored it (& still have it)

He almost didn't make it in 1999 after his horrific car accident in Northern Australia - a lot of recuperation was required after that

I'll miss him

[robertoart]

Remember seeing his 'Shock of the New' when it was broadcast (was it really as long ago as 1980? ) RIP.

Remember that series well - even bought the book that mirrored it (& still have it)

He almost didn't make it in 1999 after his horrific car accident in Northern Australia - a lot of recuperation was required after that

I'll miss him

His reputation never really recovered either as far as I am concerned. I also do not believe his awful comments about others at the time were wrongly attributed to him. They replayed a Denton interview on ABC tonight in tribute and he did his best to contextualise his bitterness and deny the racism. Very sadly, he was estranged from an adult son who subsequently committed suicide. He had a hell of a well educated Western mind, I'll give him that. And he loved painting.

Edited August 7, 2012 by freelancer

[robertoart]

Funny Hughes anecdote from this obituary about how he became Art critic for Time.

Obviously I have overlooked Hughes was an Australian Hunter S Thompson...

"The magazine was America's window to the world and the men and women who worked on it belonged to a sort of east coast Brahman class. But when the senior editor phoned to offer the Time art critic job, Hughes recalled he was so stoned he thought it was the CIA calling.

''In a measured and dignified way, I told this spook exactly what I thought of the American imperialism whose tool he was, of American policy in Vietnam, of American perfidy. It was quite a little performance. I then, secure in the knowledge of a good day's work compressed into a couple of minutes, hung up in his ear,'' Hughes wrote in a 2006 memoir Things I Didn't Know.

Nevertheless, he moved to Manhattan in 1970 and wrote for Time for the rest of the century".

My link

This reminds me of an interview with Paul McCartney, who said that when The Beatles finished work on Revolver, he decamped to Germany for a few days (with a tape dub of the freshly completed album in his hands). When he got to Germany, he immediately imbibed some high toxicity German hashish, and proceeded to luxuriate in listening to his newly recorded masterpiece. Unfortunately the hash had clouded his judgement - and he thought the guitars were all out of tune. Oh no -he thought - we're going to have to go back into the studio and record the whole album again