Modern Art
Hughes, Robert
Modern Art THE SHOCK OF THE NEW by Robert Hughes (Alfred A. Knopf. Illustrated. 423 pp. $29.95). In his survey of 100 years of modern art, Robert Hughes's method is "to tackle themes" rather than...
...He looks at modern art in the context of society and politics...
...In his survey of 100 years of modern art, Robert Hughes's method is "to tackle themes" rather than to present a chronological history...
...He believes that modernism as we have known it in painting came to a close at the conclusion of the 1970s...
...Whether or not you agree with his evaluations, The Shock of the New is an informed and refreshing overview...
...By the end of the 1970s," he writes, "we were getting to the point where everything that could be regarded, however distantly, as a work of art was primarily esteemed not for its ability to communicate meaning, or its use as historical evidence, or its power to generate aesthetic pleasure, but for its convertibility into cash...
...The book is lavishly illustrated with more than 250 color reproductions, and the text is enlivened with Hughes's highly opinionated judgments...
...Hughes, an art critic for Time, here expands on his series of BBC talks which appeared on public television...
...While he concentrates on painting, one of his best chapters is on evolving architecture during the last century, and he includes scattered comments on sculpture...
Vol. 45 • October 1981 • No. 10
