B. 1938 – 2012 

Born in Sydney, Robert Hughes attended the University of Sydney, initially pursuing law and architecture. After the first year however, he dropped out and despite no formal training, began painting and drawing political cartoons for local newspapers. In 1959 he was a Wynne Prize finalist and in 1961, a Sulman Prize finalist; in 1960 he entered the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. 

It was as an art critic however, that Hughes met fame. He was a freelance writer for The Observer and the Sunday Times, produced dozens of art documentaries for BBC-TV and on the basis of his growing reputation, was hired by Time magazine in 1970 as its art critic. Across his career, Hughes became one of the Western world’s most revered art critics, known for books and televisions series including The Shock of the New (1980), The Fatal Shore (1987), Nothing if Not Critical (1990), American Visions and A Jerk on One End (1999). 

In 1999, just after filming commenced on Beyond the Fatal Shore, Hughes suffered a devastating car accident along the coast of Western Australia. He spent five weeks in a coma. In the protracted legal battle that followed, Hughes’s marriage broke down and his only son died. In 2001, he wed his third wife – the artist and art director Doris Downes – who Hughes described as having “saved my life, my emotional stability, such as it is.”

Hughes contributions to art are far-reaching. He championed technique, excellence and vision, staunchly criticising artists who succumbed to market whims and the allure of fame. Whether painting, writing or speaking to mass audiences on the television, Hughes was received as clever, hilarious, cutting and stoic in his integrity.