Robert Hughes

  • 28

    Catalog books

  • 14

    Works

  • 1980 to 2010

    Strongest span

Who This Author Is

Robert Hughes writes about art with direct, unsentimental attention to painters and the craft of looking. In Lucian Freud Paintings (1997) he pairs sharp visual analysis with clear, economical prose, guiding readers through Freud’s technique, subject choices, and the physical presence of his work without theatrical flourish.

Hughes’s commentary privileges how paintings are made and seen: brushwork, surface, scale and the uneasy intimacy Freud creates between sitter and viewer. The book is compact but precise, useful for readers who want informed, lucid interpretations of individual works rather than broad biographical or theoretical surveys.

Best Place To Start

Lucian Freud Paintings

W W Norton & Co Inc • 1997 • quick commitment

It stands out because it asks for less time than many of the longer volumes on this page.

Author At A Glance

Best known for: Concise, clear art criticism • Insightful essays on modern and contemporary art • Close readings of painters and their work

Genres and themes: Art criticism • Visual arts monographs • Painterly technique and portraiture

Who this author is best for: For readers who want lucid, opinionated writing about painters and the practice of looking.

Start with the concise Lucian Freud Paintings volume to sample Hughes’s clear, essay-like approach to artists.

Top Books To Start With

  1. Lucian Freud Paintings

    W W Norton & Co Inc • 1997 • quick commitment

    UPB note: year signal: 1997 • 136 pages.

  2. Culture of Complaint: The Fraying of America

    Harvill Pr • 1999 • standard commitment

    UPB note: one of the most common used-copy publishers for this author • year signal: 1999 • 192 pages.

  3. National Geographic Directions

    National Geographic • 2010 • standard commitment

    UPB note: year signal: 2010 • 192 pages.

  4. Things I Didn't Know

    Knopf • 2006 • longer commitment

    It helps anchor a specific period of this author’s publishing run instead of blending into the undated shelf clutter.

  5. A Jerk on One End: Reflections of a Mediocre Fisherman (Library of Contemporary Thought)

    Ballantine Books • 1999 • quick commitment

    UPB note: year signal: 1999 • 144 pages.

  6. Nothing If Not Critical (Harvill Press Editions)

    Harvill Pr • 1999 • longer commitment

    UPB note: one of the most common used-copy publishers for this author • year signal: 1999 • 444 pages.

  7. Jaguar/Daimler

    Blandford Pr • 1998 • quick commitment

    UPB note: year signal: 1998 • 160 pages.

  8. Primera Corintios

    Editorial Portavoz • 1998 • quick commitment

    UPB note: year signal: 1998 • 176 pages.

  9. Segunda Corintios

    Editorial Portavoz • 1998 • quick commitment

    UPB note: year signal: 1998 • 144 pages.

  10. Culture of Complaint

    Oxford Univ Pr • 1993 • standard commitment

    UPB note: year signal: 1993 • 210 pages.

How The Picks Compare

  • Lucian Freud Paintings is the easier short commitment, while Culture of Complaint: The Fraying of America asks for more reading time up front.
  • Lucian Freud Paintings gives you an earlier look at this author’s shelf, while Culture of Complaint: The Fraying of America leans later in the catalog.
  • National Geographic Directions is also useful if you want a different publishing lane from Lucian Freud Paintings.

More Books By Robert Hughes

Browse Next