The Shock of the New is an eight-part documentary television series about the development of modern art written and presented in 1980 by Australian art critic Robert Hughes for the BBC, in association with Time-Life Films. Hughes also wrote a book to accompany the series. It was produced by Lorna Pegram, who also directed three of the episodes.
In 2004 Hughes created a one-hour update to The Shock of the New titled The NEW Shock of the New.
The series consisted of eight episodes each one hour long (58 min approx).[2] It was re-broadcast on PBS in the United States. In the three case where PBS changed the titles, they are given in square brackets below. Quotations are spoken by Judi Dench and Martin Jarvis.[citation needed]
Mechanical Paradise – how the development of technology influenced art between 1880 and end of World War I. Cubism and Futurism
The Powers That Be [Shapes of Dissent] – examining the relationship between modern art and authority. Dada, Constructivism, Futurism, architecture of power
The Landscape of Pleasure – examining art's relationship with the pleasures of nature, and visions of paradise 1870s to 1950s. Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism
The View from the Edge [Sublime and Anxious Eye] – a look at those who made visual art from the crags and vistas of their internal world. Expressionism
The Future That Was [End of Modernity] – the commercialisation of modern art, the decline of modernism, and art without substance. Land art, performance art, and body art
The Shock of the New took three years to create, and Hughes travelled about 250,000 miles (400,000 km) during the filming to include particular places or people. The series also used archival footage of featured artists.[3] The series was produced by Lorna Pegram, who also directed three of the episodes. Hughes remembers being directed by Pegram with her saying, "It's a clever argument, Bob dear, but what are we supposed to be looking at?".[1]
The book of the series was published in 1980 by the BBC under the title The Shock of the New: Art and the century of change.[6] It was republished in 1991 by Thames and Hudson.[7] The book was included by The Guardian in their list of the top 100 non-fiction books,[3] and is still in print as of 2024[update].[8]