Cultural musings with Patrick McCaughey
For the bookworm there’s nothing better than sitting down to a good read, especially while the weather resembles a summer in Siberia. If you’re keen for a little cultural enlightenment (as well as some art world understanding) pick up The Bright Shapes and the True Names: A Memoir.
The book is the recorded memoir of celebrated (and outspoken) Australian art critic Patrick McCaughey. Born in Ireland, Patrick emigrated to Australia at age ten and rose up the ranks to become the art critic of The Age in 1966. A flamboyant and charismatic member of the art world, Patrick sought to turn traditional ideas on their heads and didn’t hold back when it came to his opinions.
This bowtie-wearing libertine of the arts came to hold positions such as director of the National Gallery of Victoria, professor of visual arts at Monash University and director of the Yale Centre of British Art in the USA. The Bright Shapes and the True Names is a celebration of his adventurous journey throughout the art world (which lasted more than three decades), while giving a little insight into Australia’s modern-art scene and how it has grown. Available from the GOMA store, this art-filled memoir does not require readers to know their Margaret Olley from their Sidney Nolan before delving into its pages.
Image via crikey.
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