46-403: The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding is a 1986 book by Robert Hughes . It provides a history of the early years of British colonisation of Australia , and especially the history and social effects of Britain's convict transportation system . It also addresses the historical, political and sociological reasons that led to British settlement. It was first published in 1986. Hughes
92-508: A Genius (2002), was broadcast on the first night of the new British domestic digital service , BBC Four . He created a one-hour update to The Shock of the New , titled The New Shock of the New , which first aired in 2004. He published the first volume of his memoirs, Things I Didn’t Know , in 2006. Following his death, Jonathan Jones wrote in The Guardian that Hughes "was simply
138-512: A barrister during his time as a backbencher . In 1967 he represented Clive Evatt Jr., nephew of former ALP leader Herbert Evatt , against the New South Wales Bar Association in a professional misconduct case. In August 1969, he represented Alexander McLeod-Lindsay at a special inquiry into his conviction for attempting to murder his wife, arguing there had been a mistrial. Hughes was appointed Attorney-General in
184-515: A brain tumour in 2003. Their son, Danton, Hughes's only child, was named after the French revolutionary Georges Danton . Danton Hughes, a sculptor, committed suicide in April 2001; he was found by his partner, fashion designer Jenny Kee , with whom he had been in a long-term relationship. Robert Hughes later wrote: "I miss Danton and always will, although we had been miserably estranged for years and
230-603: A conviction for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. In 2002, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Hughes was still working full-time at the age of 78, as one of only two active barristers admitted to the New South Wales bar in the 1940s. He retired from the bar in October 2013, a month before his 90th birthday. Hughes delivered the eulogy at the state memorial service for John Gorton in May 2002. His speech
276-651: A number of decades. Hughes was the last surviving Liberal minister of the Gorton and McMahon governments. Hughes was born on 26 November 1923 in Rose Bay, New South Wales . He was the son of lawyer and aviator Geoffrey Forrest Hughes . His brother was the writer and critic Robert Hughes . His grandfather and great-uncle were members of the New South Wales Legislative Council . He was educated at Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview , and
322-670: A number of occasions. He was "jostled" by protestors after a speech at the University of Sydney in July 1970 and subsequently abandoned his car, inadvertently causing over 300 police to be called out when the event's organisers could not locate him. At a speech to the Australian National University 's Liberal Club in September 1970, he was interrupted by anti-war demonstrators and "grabbed a Vietcong flag from
368-492: A student and tore it from its supporting pole". The previous month his home in Bellevue Hill had been invaded by anti-war demonstrators, resulting in eight students and two press photographers being arrested. He reportedly "came out carrying a cricket bat and scuffled with some of the demonstrators" before performing a citizen's arrest on one student. Hughes was charged with unlawful assault in relation to his use of
414-576: A student, Hughes was caught up in controversy when a number of his classmates demonstrated in a student newspaper article that he had published plagiarised poetry by Terence Tiller and others, and a drawing by Leonard Baskin . Hughes left Australia for Europe in 1964, living for a time in Italy before settling in London in 1965, where he wrote for The Spectator , The Daily Telegraph , The Times , and The Observer , among others, and contributed to
460-617: A suit brought by union secretary Charlie Oliver . In 1964 he represented author Hal Porter against The Mercury for publishing a bad review of his autobiography. Hughes defeated the long-serving Labor member Les Haylen to unexpectedly win the seat of Parkes at the 1963 elections. He switched to the Division of Berowra at the 1969 federal election . He served on the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs from 1964 to 1969. Hughes continued to practise as
506-798: The Communist Party of Australia . In 1976 he simultaneously appeared for prime minister Gough Whitlam in the New South Wales Court of Petty Sessions while representing Vic Garland against Whitlam in the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory . The cases were unrelated and as such there was no perceived conflict of interest. Hughes assisted media mogul Kerry Packer at the Costigan Royal Commission in 1984. In
SECTION 10
#1732780955169552-565: The Impressionists . It was produced and in part directed by Lorna Pegram . It was accompanied by a book with the same title. John O'Connor of The New York Times said, "Agree or disagree, you will not be bored. Mr. Hughes has a disarming way of being provocative." Hughes's TV series American Visions (1997) reviewed the history of American art since the Revolution . Hughes's documentary on Francisco Goya , Goya: Crazy Like
598-879: The University of Sydney , where he graduated in law. He enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in May 1942 and was discharged in February 1946. In 2005 he was awarded the French Légion d'honneur for his courage while flying planes in the Invasion of Normandy . He was called to the New South Wales bar in 1949, becoming a QC in 1962. Hughes appeared in a number of high-profile defamation cases. In 1960 he successfully defended Australian Consolidated Press , its editor-in-chief David McNicoll, and political journalist Alan Reid against
644-554: The second Gorton ministry in a major reshuffle after the 1969 federal election. In May 1970, Hughes publicly spoke in favour of decriminalising homosexuality, in the context of the drafting of new criminal codes for the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory . In the same year he supported Rae Else-Mitchell 's call for federal and state courts to be merged into a single judicial system. Hughes came into conflict with university students on
690-410: The 20th century". Hughes, according to Adam Gopnik , was drawn to work that was rough-hewn, "craft attempted with passion." Hughes's critical prose, vivid in both praise and indignation, has been compared to that of George Bernard Shaw , Jonathan Swift and William Shakespeare . "His prose", according to a colleague, "was lithe, muscular and fast as a bunch of fives. He was incapable of writing
736-458: The London version of Oz . In 1970 he was appointed art critic for TIME magazine and moved to New York, where he soon became an influential voice. In 1966 Hughes published a history of Australian painting titled The Art of Australia , still considered an important work. Hughes wrote and narrated the BBC eight-part series The Shock of the New (1980) on the development of modern art since
782-498: The New , and for his longstanding position as art critic with TIME magazine. He is also known for his best seller The Fatal Shore (1986), a study of the British convict system in early Australian history . 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. His writing was noted for its power and elegance. Hughes
828-438: The New proved to be a popular and critical success: it has been assessed "much the best synoptic introduction to modern art ever written", taking as its premise the vitality gained by modern art when it ceded the need to replicate nature in favour of a more direct expression of human experience and emotion. Hughes's explanations of modern art benefited from the coherence of his judgments, and were marked by his ability to summarise
874-518: The Soviet Union." In a 2013 Quadrant article, historian Keith Windschuttle argued that The Fatal Shore "remains the most widely read representation of the old anti-British historical paradigm created from the 1940s to the 1970s by Marxists and other leftists in university history departments." Windschuttle wrote that "Hughes’s gift for the dramatic phrase led him to go further than his sources and argue that nineteenth-century New South Wales
920-514: The United States and by William Collins in the UK, and subsequently published in paperback in the UK by Collins Harvill in 1987. The Folio Society published a slipcased premium edition in 1998, extending to a fourth printing in 2006. Australian novelist Thomas Keneally , in a review for The New York Times , described the book as "an authoritative and engrossing record," stating that "although
966-429: The bat, but was found not guilty by reason of provocation. Hughes supported John Gorton in the 1971 leadership spill and was not retained as attorney-general when William McMahon replaced Gorton as party leader and prime minister. He later spoke of a "feeling of having been wronged" over the demotion. In August 1971 he opposed McMahon's attempts to sack Gorton from the new ministry, describing them as "bordering on
SECTION 20
#17327809551691012-460: The essential qualities of his subject. Whether positive or negative, his judgments were enthusiastic. He championed London painters like Frank Auerbach and Lucian Freud , helping to popularise the latter in the United States, and wrote with unabashed admiration for Francisco Goya and Pierre Bonnard . By contrast Hughes was dismissive of much postmodernism and neo-expressionism , of painters like Julian Schnabel and David Salle , as well as
1058-417: The greatest art critic of our time and it will be a long while before we see his like again. He made criticism look like literature. He also made it look morally worthwhile. He lent a nobility to what can often seem a petty way to spend your life. Hughes could be savage, but he was never petty. There was purpose to his lightning bolts of condemnation". Hughes and Harold Hayes were recruited in 1978 to anchor
1104-531: The group were Germaine Greer and Clive James . Hughes, an aspiring artist and poet, abandoned his university endeavours to become first a cartoonist and then an art critic for the Sydney periodical The Observer , edited by Donald Horne . Hughes was briefly involved in the original Sydney version of Oz magazine and wrote art criticism for Nation and the Sunday Mirror . In 1961, while still
1150-491: The human cost of Britain's colonial venture and how these experiences have helped shape modern Australia." Historian Geoffrey Blainey wrote in A Shorter History of Australia that "Robert Hughes's wonderfully written history of the convicts, The Fatal Shore , was to entice more readers than any other book on Australia's history, but he loaded the dice when he likened the convict system to the Gulag Archipelago in
1196-437: The insane". Hughes quickly returned to his legal practice, appearing before the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory a few months after his sacking. He was opposed for Liberal preselection in October 1971 by four other candidates, winning a majority on the first ballot. The Canberra Times reported that his bid for renomination was opposed by the conservative faction led by Jim Cameron , and that since leaving
1242-545: The jargon of the art world, and consequently was treated by its mandarins with fear and loathing." In different moods he could write that " Schnabel’s work is to painting what Stallone’s is to acting: a lurching display of oily pectorals," as well as conclude that Antoine Watteau "was a connoisseur of the unplucked string, the immobility before the dance, the moment that falls between departure and nostalgia." Tom Hughes (Australian politician) Thomas Eyre Forrest Hughes AO KC (26 November 1923 – 28 November 2024)
1288-630: The late 1990s, Hughes was a prominent supporter of the Australian Republican Movement . Australia: Beyond the Fatal Shore (2000) was a series musing on modern Australia and Hughes's relationship with it. During production, Hughes was involved in a near-fatal road accident. Hughes met his first wife, Danne Emerson, in London in 1967. Together they became involved in the counterculture of the 1960s , exploring drug use and sexual freedom. They divorced in 1981; she died of
1334-545: The leading figures at the Sydney bar, and was president of the New South Wales Bar Association between 1973 and 1975. He was formerly engaged in full-time practice as a member of Sydney's Blackstone Chambers, and as of 2016 was the most senior member of the NSW Bar. In 1974 Hughes defended New South Wales premier Robert Askin against a defamation suit brought by Jack Mundey , the president of
1380-492: The legal profession, often serving as his junior . Michael became a stockbroker and business executive, also holding senior office in the Liberal Party's organisational wing. Hughes and his first wife divorced in 1972. He subsequently proposed marriage to actress Kate Fitzpatrick , who turned him down. He remarried in 1981 to Chrissie Abel Smith ( née Taylor ), at a ceremony officiated by Ted Noffs . Hughes
1426-536: The ministry his comments "had established him as one of the principal spokesmen for the 'radical wing' of the Liberal Party". In November 1971, Hughes announced his decision to retire from federal politics at the next election, citing a desire to return to practising law full-time. In September 1972 Hughes was elected to the council of the Australian National University, to a term expiring in 1975. After leaving politics he became one of
The Fatal Shore - Misplaced Pages Continue
1472-508: The new ABC News (US) newsmagazine 20/20 . Their only broadcast, on 6 June 1978, proved so controversial that, less than a week later, ABC News president Roone Arledge terminated the contracts of both men, replacing them with veteran TV host Hugh Downs . Hughes's book The Fatal Shore followed in 1987. A study of the British penal colonies and early European settlement of Australia , it became an international best-seller. During
1518-420: The pain of his loss has been somewhat blunted by the passage of time". Hughes was married to his second wife, Victoria Whistler, from 1981 until their divorce in 1996. In 1999, Hughes was involved in a near-fatal car accident south of Broome, Western Australia . He was returning from a fishing trip and driving on the wrong side of the road when he collided head on with another car carrying three occupants. He
1564-572: The same year he represented bookmaker Bill Waterhouse at the New South Wales Racing Appeals Tribunal following the Fine Cotton scandal. Hughes represented High Court judge Lionel Murphy in several different venues relating to his alleged attempts to pervert the course of justice. In 1984 he appeared for Murphy before a Senate committee, and the following year he represented Murphy in his appeal against
1610-474: The story of the convict system has recently been covered by a number of Australian historians, this account, richly peopled with bizarre and compelling characters, is probably the most full-blooded and monumental treatment the subject has been given." Brian Smith, writing in the World Socialist Web Site , gave a positive review of the book, declaring that it "provide[s] a vivid portrayal of
1656-443: The vicissitudes of a money-fuelled art market. While his reviews expressed antipathy for the avant-garde , he was beholden neither to any theory nor ideology, and managed to provoke both ends of the political spectrum. He distrusted novelty in art for its own sake, yet he was also disdainful of a conservative aesthetic that avoided risk. He famously labelled contemporary Australian indigenous art as "the last great art movement of
1702-467: The wife of former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull . He had another brother Geoffrey and one sister, Constance. Growing up in Rose Bay, Sydney , Hughes was educated at Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview before studying arts and then architecture at the University of Sydney . At university, he associated with the Sydney "Push" – a group of artists, writers, intellectuals and drinkers. Among
1748-488: Was actually a precursor to Stalin ’s Gulag Archipelago." Robert Hughes (critic) Robert Studley Forrest Hughes AO (28 July 1938 – 6 August 2012) was an Australian-born art critic , writer, and producer of television documentaries . He was described in 1997 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
1794-459: Was also survived by two stepsons from his wife's previous marriage, Freeborn Garrettson Jewett IV and Fielder Douglas Jewett; his brothers, Tom and Geoffrey Hughes; a sister, Constance Crisp; and many nieces and nephews. When The Shock of the New was proposed to the BBC, television programmers were sceptical that a journalist could properly follow the aristocratic tone of Kenneth Clark , whose Civilisation had been so successful. The Shock of
1840-530: Was an Australian former barrister and politician. A member of the Liberal Party , he served as Attorney-General in the Gorton government from 1969 to 1971 and was a member of the House of Representatives from 1963 to 1972, representing the New South Wales seats of Parkes and Berowra . He was a former president of the New South Wales Bar Association and was one of Sydney's most prominent barristers for
1886-589: Was an Australian man who became an internationally well-known art critic, living in Europe and then New York, where he became art critic for Time magazine. Hughes's interest in Australia's convict era began in the early 1970s, when he was filming a TV documentary about the history of Australian art that took him to Port Arthur in Tasmania. The Fatal Shore was originally published in 1986 by Alfred A. Knopf in
The Fatal Shore - Misplaced Pages Continue
1932-510: Was born in Sydney, in 1938. His father and paternal grandfather were lawyers. Hughes's father, Geoffrey Forrest Hughes , was a pilot in the First World War , with later careers as a solicitor and company director. He died from lung cancer when Robert was aged 12. His mother was Margaret Eyre Sealy, née Vidal. His elder brother was Australian politician Thomas Eyre Forrest Hughes , the father of former Sydney Lord Mayor Lucy Turnbull ,
1978-662: Was fined A$ 2,500. Hughes recounts the story of the accident and his recovery in the first chapter of his 2006 memoir Things I Didn't Know . In 2001, Hughes wed his third wife, the American artist and art director Doris Downes . "Apart from being a talented painter, she saved my life, my emotional stability, such as it is", he said. After a long illness, reportedly exacerbated by some 50 years of alcohol consumption, Hughes died at Calvary Hospital in The Bronx , New York City, on 6 August 2012, with his wife at his bedside. He
2024-508: Was highly critical of Malcolm Fraser 's actions in 1971, which he termed a "political assassination". Fraser was in attendance at the service. He died on 28 November 2024, aged 101. In 1951 Hughes married Joanna Fitzgerald, a niece of the poet R. D. Fitzgerald . The couple had three children together – Lucy , Tom Jr. and Michael. Lucy served as Lord Mayor of Sydney (2000–2002) and married Malcolm Turnbull , who became prime minister of Australia (2015–2018). Tom followed his father into
2070-411: Was raised Catholic. He left the church for a period due to disagreements with its social policies, but rejoined in the early 1990s. In the early 1970s Hughes bought an 800-hectare (2,000-acre) farming property at Gurrundah , New South Wales. He initially raised cattle but in 1976 established a Poll Dorset sheep stud with six rams and 320 ewes. He won prizes at local agricultural shows and exhibited at
2116-405: Was trapped in the car for three hours before being airlifted to Perth in critical condition. Hughes was in a coma for five weeks after the crash. In a 2000 court hearing, Hughes's defence barrister alleged that the occupants of the other car had been transporting illicit drugs at the time of the accident and were at fault. In 2003 Hughes pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing bodily harm and
#168831