Robert Hudson (1938–2024) was a sculptor, painter and printmaker whose inventive assemblages helped define Northern California's Funk art movement. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and raised in Richland, Washington, he earned his B.F.A. in 1961 and M.F.A. in 1963 from the San Francisco Art Institute, where he developed a lifelong friendship with William T. Wiley. Hudson became known for his exuberant sculptures combining welded steel, found objects, vivid color and unexpected juxtapositions. Challenging conventional distinctions between painting and sculpture, his work balances geometric abstraction with humor, illusion and improvisation. Alongside UC Davis artists Robert Arneson, Roy De Forest and Wiley, Hudson participated in the landmark exhibition FUNK at the University Art Museum, UC Berkeley, in 1967. He served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Art at UC Davis in 1983, contributing to the university's experimental artistic community. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1976, Hudson is represented in major collections including the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Smithsonian American Art Museum.