| Robert Studley Forrest Hughes |
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Hughes lives in New York with his wife, the American artist Doris Downes . Hughes comes from a distinguished and well-connected Australian family — his older brother is the leading Australian lawyer and former federal Attorney-General, Tom Hughes AO, QC, and his niece Lucy Turnbull (Tom's daughter), a former Lord Mayor of Sydney, is married to leading Australian businesman and politican Malcolm Turnbull . EARLY LIFE Hughes was born in Sydney and was educated at St Ignatius' College, Riverview before going on to study arts and architecture at the University Of Sydney in 1956 . During his time at university, Hughes made a name for himself within the and Clive James . Hughes left university before graduating, after being commissioned to write a history of Australian painting, ''The Art of Australia'', while still an undergraduate. It was published in 1966. Hughes was also briefly involved in the original Sydney version of '' Oz Magazine '' and he also wrote art criticism for ''The Nation'' and ''The Sunday Mirror'' . CAREER Hughes left Australia for London , England in 1965, where he wrote for such publications as The Spectator , The Daily Telegraph , The Times and The Observer , and contributed to the London version of ''Oz''. In 1970 he obtained the position of art critic for '' TIME '' magazine and he moved to New York . He quickly established himself in the U.S. as an influential art critic. Hughes and Harold Hayes were recruited in 1978 to anchor the new ABC News (US) Newsmagazine '' 20/20 ''. His only broadcast, on June 6, 1978, proved so disastrous that, less than a week later, ABC News president Roone Arledge dumped him and Hayes and replaced them with veteran TV host Hugh Downs . In 1981, Hughes made a television series on modern art called '' The Shock Of The New ''. In 1987, he published '' The Fatal Shore '', a study of the British convict settlements in Australia, which became an international best-seller. In 1988, he attracted controversy for criticising an exhibition of Neo-expressionist painter Julian Schnabel . At the time it was widely accepted that critics had a supine relationship with galleries and artists, and Hughes's attack greatly affected Schnabel's reputation. Since leaving Australia Hughes has had only occasional contact with his homeland. During the 1990s, however, he was a prominent supporter of the Australian Republican Movement . ROAD ACCIDENT AND SUBSEQUENT EVENTS In 1999, during a brief return to Australia, Hughes was seriously injured in a vehicle accident near Broome , Western Australia . After a day out fishing, Hughes had been driving alone when his vehicle collided head on with another car. His right leg was broken in five places and his right elbow was shattered. He was in a coma for several weeks and claimed no memory of the crash. Three men were travelling in the other car, one of whom was injured; they stated that Hughes was driving on the wrong side of the road (the right hand side, since road traffic in Australia travels on the left). In 2000 , Hughes was acquitted of two counts of dangerous driving by a Broome Magistrate . Hughes did not give evidence and his defence was technical, in that the prosecution could not rule out the possibility of a mechanical failure causing the car to veer over the centre line. However the charges were reinstated and upgraded by the WA Director Of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Robert Cock, QC . Following allegations that they had attempted to blackmail Hughes, two men from the other vehicle were not called to give evidence, and Hughes was acquitted. Hughes was later sued for defamation by Cock and his assistant, Lloyd Rayney. Further controversy arose when it was alleged that Hughes had made a racist remark about Rayney, an Asian-Australian. The WA Crown Solicitor appealed Hughes's acquittal on the driving charges. In 2003 Hughes pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm. He was fined A$ 2,500 and was banned from driving in WA for three years. Family tragedy visited Hughes in April 2001 when his sculptor son Danton, aged 33, committed suicide in Australia. Hughes has continued to write for ''TIME'', although his contributions became less frequent after his accident. HONOURS As a reviewer, Hughes is the only art critic to twice win America's most coveted award for art criticism (in 1982 and 1985), the Frank Jewett Mather Award, given by the College Art Association of America. In 1988 Hughes was named recipient of the American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award.
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