Renowned art critic and historian Robert Hughes died Monday after a long illness. He was 74.
Hughes was born in Australia, but spent his later years in New York where he served as an art critic for Time magazine.
Among his many works was the bestselling book “The Fatal Shore,” published in 1987. The book gives a lengthy account of the European colonization of Australia and came out at a time when Australians were looking more closely at their history.
In 1980, a BBC television series about the history of modern art, “The Shock of the New,” helped Hughes become a household name.
During a trip back to Australia in 1999, he was involved in a car accident. He was seriously injured and never fully recovered.
In more recent years, he sought out the limelight less and less.
His final book “Rome” was published in 2011.
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