Interesting concept for 'The Portable..." series and useful in many ways.

However, it's disingenuous to describe it as being "by" Robert Hughes. Yes, he wrote the 'introduction' though he didn't write it for THIS book (or this series) ... here's my story:

I attended a reading and book signing at Vroman's in Pasadena, California, when Hughes' memoir (Things I Didn't Know) came out. Chairs were set out in a room upstairs, and a table for the author with several of his books displayed on it. Perhaps 3 or 4 dozen people were there, waiting -Hughes was a bit late arriving. One of the bookstore employees escorted him and it was not a good day for Hughes. This was post-car-accident when he lived in constant pain, but it got worse when he saw the "Portable" series of books set out on the table.

With effort, he lifted up his cane and swatted The Portable Magritte off the table, then the next one and the next... went into a rant about his work being stolen. Did he write the essay about Magritte? Yes, but in connection with his work for Time Magazine and his other books - the publisher of these "Portable" volumes had never contacted him about using his essays as the introductions. Needless to say, he was never paid for that, either. But they certainly put Hughes' name on the books...

He settled down a bit to read a chapter from his memoir, but was constantly shifting around in the chair - that's part of my comment about being in pain. Signed books afterwards for the audience (just a signature, no inscribing - that had been announced before he arrived).

A good lesson, I'm sure, for the bookstore employees - and despite all, he's still my favorite author. But this isn't one of *his* books. ( )