MEDIA - American Cultural Critics

"The Artists of Cultural Criticism: Remembering Robert Hughes and Judith Crist" PBS Newshour 8/7/2012

Excerpt

SUMMARY: As taste-makers, critics can reveal the best and worst in art and film -- from inspiration to distraction. Jeffrey Brown and New York Times' A.O. Scott remember two such critics: Robert Hughes, who spent three decades writing for Time Magazine, and Judith Crist, who championed a new wave of actors and directors in the 1960s.

JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour): .... the critic speaks and sometimes roars. We remember two legends of the genre.

Art critic and historian Robert Hughes died Monday in New York after a long illness. He was 72 years old. A native of Australia, Hughes spent more than three decades as art critic for "TIME" magazine, and reached many millions more through his work on television.

His 1980 documentary "The Shock of the New" changed conceptions about 20th century art. It originated on the BBC and also aired on PBS. Later, Hughes wrote and presented "American Visions," another series that aired on PBS.

Here's an excerpt of Hughes discussing the work of the American painter Winslow Homer.