The Shock of the New

‘The definitive book on 20th-century art and design’ – Creative Review

'Robert Hughes is the best of guides, enthusiastic, astringent … neither smug nor condescending– The Observer

'Teeming with ideas … an enormously enjoyable account of the state of play between art and society' – The Times

Takes the stuffing out of the subject where and when it can' – The Spectator

A tour de force of writing on art

This legendary book has been universally hailed as the best, the most readable and the most provocative account of modern art ever written.

Through each of the thematic chapters Hughes keeps his story grounded in the history of the 20th century, demonstrating how modernism sought to describe the experience of that era and showing how for many key art movements this was a task of vital importance.

The way in which Hughes brings that vitality and immediacy back through the well-chosen example and well-turned phrase is the heart of this book's success.

About the Author

Robert Hughes, art critic of Time magazine and twice winner of the American College Art Association's F. J. Mather Award for distinguished criticism, is author of The Shock of the New, and of Heaven and Hell in Western Art. He is also author of the acclaimed Nothing If Not Critical, a work on Frank Auerbach; Barcelona, and Culture Of Complaint, essays on the fraying of America. Robert Hughes died in August 2012.