Patrick McCaughey (born 1942) is an Irish-born Australian

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

and academic. McCaughey was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, his father being

Davis McCaughey John Davis McCaughey (12 July 1914 – 25 March 2005) was an Irish-born Australian academic theologian, Christian minister, university administrator and the 23rd Governor of Victoria from 1986 to 1992. Early life and academic career McCaughey ...

. He migrated with his family to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia. when he was ten years old. His secondary education was at

Scotch College, Melbourne Scotch College is a private, Presbyterian day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The college was established in 1851 as The Melbourne Academy in a house in Spri ...

. He resided at Ormond College,

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, where he studied

Fine Arts In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creativity, creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function ...

and

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

. He became art critic for ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' newspaper in Melbourne in 1966. He was well known for his advocacy of

abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

and of Australian artists, in particular Fred Williams. On return to Australia from a year-long

Harkness Fellowship The Harkness Fellowship (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship) is a program run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. This fellowship was established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several co ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, he was appointed as the first professor of fine arts at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

in 1972 and the Monash Department of Visual Arts had its first intake in 1975. From 1981 he was the director of the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

. In 1988 he left Australia for the United States, where he held positions including director of the

Wadsworth Atheneum The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionism, Impressionist paintings, Hudson Riv ...

(1988–96), the chair in Australian Studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and the director of the Yale Center for British Art. McCaughey was married to Winsome McCaughey. He retired to Connecticut with his partner, Donna Curran. He continues to write, while she runs a restaurant.

Bibliography

* ''The Pyramid in the Waste: The Search for Meaning in Australian Art'' 1983 * ''Fred Williams 1927-1982'', Murdoch Books, 1987, 1996, 2008 * ''The Bright Shapes and the True Names: A Memoir'', Text Publishing, 2003 * ''Bert and Ned : The Correspondence of Albert Tucker and Sidney Nolan Albert Tucker'', Melbourne University Publishing, 2006 * ''Voyage and Landfall: The Art of Jan Senbergs'', 2006 * ''Strange Country: Why Australian Painting Matters'', Melbourne University Publishing, 2014 * ''The Diaries of Fred Williams 1963-1970'', Miegunyah Press, 2024

Selected articles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCaughey, Patrick 1942 births Australian art historians University of Melbourne alumni Living people Australian people of Irish descent People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne