The Shock Of The New

Today marks the first anniversary of the death of Robert Hughes who presented this eight part documentary series called The Shock of the New on the BBC in 1980. It essentially concerns itself with the development of modern art since the Impressionist era. Robert Hughes looks at how technology, war, politics, authority, liberty and pleasure have affected artists and therefore their art.
Robert Hughes wrote and wonderfully presented this documentary series which manages to be both informative and imaginative whilst also occasionally being thought provocative.

I can't really say I have a great interest in art, I find some of the artists behind the art beguiling. I think art can be very powerful sometimes and there are certain works of art that I admire but overall I am no art obsessive. Therefore I was a bit surprised that I found this series so fascinating. This most likely comes down to the talents of Robert Hughes as a presenter. I found him very engaging as a presenter, even if he does not like a particular artwork or recognises it's limits and flaws he appreciate it's importance in it's place in history and the artist's history. The Shock of the New certainly has the ability to appeal to those who have a passive interest in art. If there was a criticism to be had it would be about the terrible music at the end and the beginning of the programme!

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