Robert Carleton Hobbs is an art historian and curator specializing in twentieth-century art.
Since 1991 he has held the Rhoda Thalhimer Endowed Chair of American Art in the School of Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University, , a highly ranked art department.
Since 2004 he has served as a visiting professor at Yale University.
He has held positions at Cornell University, University of Iowa, Florida State University, and Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art in Iran, and is known for a number of books, in-depth essays, and exhibitions.