Renowned Australian art critic and historian Robert Hughes has died after a long illness. He was 74.

His publisher, Random House, says he died Monday in New York, where he had lived for many years.

Hughes was best known for his bestselling epic book about Australia called "The Fatal Shore," published in 1987. He wrote for Time magazine as art critic for more than three decades. He could be scathing in his opinions, saying the art world had "finally turned into a kind of entropic, institutionalized parody of its old self.”

His eight-part documentary about art history, "The Shock of the New," aired on BBC television and was seen by more than 25 million viewers. He later wrote a book based off the film that was well-received by critics.

Other books included the 2006 memoir "Things I Didn't Know" and last year's "Rome," a personal history of the Italian city.

Hughes appeared on the Leonard Lopate Show in 2006, where he described his life before and after a traumatic 1999 car crash. Listen to it here.