[.ca] Nothing If Not Critical (ISBN 014016524X)

THE book of art criticism to buy ...:
I don't know much about art and I'm not even sure I know what I like. But it's obvious that this book is intelligently - and honestly - written, and I'm writing this review mainly to recommend the book to other people who aren't terribly interested in the visual arts. Hughes has made me think more highly of painting in general and made me re-evaluate much of what I thought about the twentieth century. (Don't worry: he also confirmed much of it.) He isn't at all afraid to announce that the emperor has no clothes - so on those occasions when he confirms that the emperor is, in fact, fully dressed, I am much more inclined to believe him. Wittily written, too.

Nice reading:
Short essays, most of them published in Time magazine. Hughes'keen and witty look at several artists - from great masters to contemporary ones. We don't have to agree with everything he says, but he's always objective, concise and inteligent.