The Spectacle of Skill

Starred review from August 17, 2015
The staggering erudition of Time art critic Hughes (1938–2012) is on full and glorious display in this impressive collection. Excerpts from his two best-loved books—The Fatal Shore, about his native Australia’s history, and The Shock of the New, about modern art—are included, along with portions of his books on Goya, Rome, and Barcelona; essays on American modernists; and autobiographical material that includes previously unpublished essays. A sublime pleasure awaits readers: Hughes’s use of language and description is lush and pointed, his wit incisive and ever-present, his particularity of detail enthralling. Those who relished The Fatal Shore (the excerpts from which will make readers hunger for the complete book) will find much to admire in his assessments of the art world, and those who knew only his art criticism will be beguiled by his autobiographical tales, which cover such varied topics as his catastrophic, near-fatal car accident in 1999 and his love of fishing. Whether he’s taking down critic Clement Greenberg, expounding on the art market, describing the joys of Rome on a fine spring morning, or revisiting his childhood in Sydney, Hughes’s voice remains distinctive, opinionated, and engrossing. New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik provides an insightful and eloquent introduction.

July 15, 2015
Trenchant reflections on life and art from an award-winning critic and historian. Hughes (1938-2012) is represented in this collection by chapters from 8 of his 13 books, along with 125 pages from his second, unfinished memoir. Outspoken and fiercely opinionated, the author had capacious interests and uncompromising standards. "What has our culture lost in 1980 that the avant-garde had in 1890?" he asked in The Shock of the New (1980). "Ebullience, idealism, confidence, the belief that there was plenty of territory to explore, and above all the sense that art" could offer insights into a "radically changing culture." In Nothing If Not Critical (1990), a collection of his reviews for Time magazine, for which he served as chief art critic for more than 30 years, Hughes praises John Singer Sargent ("there is virtue in virtuosity"); acknowledges Whistler's many faults (he was "an egomaniac, a fop, and a publicity-crazed liar") but finds his work impressive; extols Pollock's brilliance; and offers a long piece on the "voracious" publicity-seeker Warhol, who, he believed, pandered to "the age of supply-side aesthetics." Chapters from Barcelona (1992) and Rome (2011) show Hughes engaging an expansive physical and cultural landscape. In his first memoir, Things I Didn't Know (2006), he gives a harrowing account of a car accident that he barely survived. For more than five weeks, he was in a "semiconscious delirium," experiencing "narrative phantasms of extreme clarity and unshakeable, Daliesque vividness." Hughes recalls his childhood in Sydney, Australia, where he reveled in the family library without the distraction of "that jabbering moronic babysitter," the TV. The author's unfinished chapters include an homage to his friend Robert Rauschenberg, recollections of living on Shelter Island, a satirical report of his tryout for the ABC news show 20/20, and a moving essay on the suicide of his son and his failures as a father. The collection serves as a fine introduction to-and commemoration of-an incisive cultural critic.

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November 1, 2015
Hughes (19382012) was an expat Australian with fervent, symbiotic passions for looking at and writing about art, which he did with reverberating impact as Time magazine's art critic from 1970 to 2001. Gathering awards and igniting controversy, he also wrote books of blazing avidity and intellectual heft. In this suitably capacious collection, perceptively introduced by Adam Gopnick, readers will find well-selected essays from seven of Hughes's influential titles, including The Shock of the New (1980), American Visions (1997), and Rome (2011). Here, too, are sections of Hughes' first candid and funny memoir, Things I Didn't Know (2006), which focused on his Australian years, and well more than 100 pages (the new writings) of what would have been its companion volume. Fishing idylls and family tragedy inspired reflection, while Hughes' accounts of his adventures at Time, love affairs, and forays into television and of scandalously unethical acts by fellow critics are robustly entertaining, hilariously caustic, and boldly forthright. With a deep appreciation for history, intrepid critical acumen, and exultant command of language, Hughes is a bracing and provocative voice for the ages.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)