Painter, sculptor, designer and author, born in Camberley, Surrey, who became a full-time artist from 1977 when he attended the Royal Academy Schools under Peter Greenham and Norman Blamey. To produce his landscapes and wildlife studies in the romantic, figurative tradition Hughes travelled extensively, including the continent, Arabia, Africa, New Zealand, the South Pacific, South and Central America. Mexico was a special favourite. His solo exhibitions were held in Britain and widely abroad. He had a show in London at the Mexican Embassy when its president visited in 1985; at Guy Morrison in 1987; plus a series at Oliver Swann Galleries. Hughes’ work featured in David Hicks’ book Living with Design, 1979, and in several archaeological works on ancient American civilizations.
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Hughes guided a tour to Yucatan in 1987. Forty large watercolours of Maya monuments of Mexico and Central America were exhibited at Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Mexico; National Arts Club, New York; and at Canning House, London, in 2000, the year they were published as Maya Monuments, with Hughes’ text. Hughes was the first artist to paint from live specimens all 50 species of the neo-tropical bird family Cracidae, shown at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Missouri Botanical Garden in St Louis and Central Park Zoo, New York. Maritime Relics was held at The Fine Art Society in 2003. Commissions included HRH The Prince of Wales, the Grenadier Guards, National Trust and Tower of London. Limited-edition prints were produced of his works. Hughes was a fellow of the Linnean Society of London. Lived in County Down, Northern Ireland, and Bridport, Dorset.
Text source: 'Artists in Britain Since 1945' by David Buckman (Art Dictionaries Ltd, part of Sansom & Company)
