I have often mentioned Robert Hughes in these pages particularly in reference to his collected critical essays -Nothing if not Critical -and I come back to him again today because I have just watched a 2-hour documentary by him called The Mona Lisa Curse:
http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/the_mona_lisa_curse_2008/
As you can see, this was made in 2008, around the same time as Sarah Thornton's book Seven Days in the Art World. Now while both pieces of work cover similar ground their origins are rather different, Thornton being an anthropologist, and Hughes an art critic of fifty years. It is significant though that both were produced at the peak of the boom and as I already said of Sarah Thornton at the time I read the book I would love to know how they would see the art world now.
As it happens, Dr Thornton's views are readily available as she writes regularly on art in the Guardian, but sadly Hughes died in 2012, although he must have seen a great retrenchment in prices........if not perhaps in attitudes.
An artist friend of mine felt that Hughes got very grumpy towards the end and certainly he was always very opinionated (that should probably be borne in mind when reading his criticism). Nevertheless, if you watch the film, perhaps you might get some idea as to why he felt the way he did.
Some of the questions he asks at the end of the piece bear thinking about when one is a baby student in art college:
What use is art?
What is art for?
Can you answer these? -if not you should be spending the next three years ...... and maybe the rest of your life ..... thinking about them .
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