Kenneth Clark

August 15, 2016
Stourton (Great Collectors of Our Time) traces the extraordinary trajectory of the life of Kenneth Clark, the youngest director of the British National Gallery (appointed at 29), lifelong educator and popularizer of the arts, and star of BBC’s groundbreaking documentary series Civilisation, which propelled the tweed-wearing polymath into improbable celebrity status on both sides of the Atlantic. Though Clark’s wide circle of acquaintances included the royal family and a staggering array of famous artists, writers, composers, and celebrities, Stourton throughout emphasizes Clark’s Ruskinian mission to make art accessible to everyone, as movingly exemplified by the free concerts and Picture of the Month exhibitions Clark hosted at the mostly empty of artwork British National Gallery during WWII to keep morale alive. But Stourton’s meticulously researched biography also addresses Clark’s many contradictions and eccentricities, like his acrimonious relationship with his wife, and his many convoluted extramarital romances, which Clark entertained into his 70s, supplying humanity to a life that outwardly radiated with a Midas touch. Written with a relish for anecdote (and with Clark’s wide social circle, there are many to be told), this book may suffer from an American readership largely unfamiliar with Clark; but those who have seen his epochal Civilisation series will appreciate the chance to explore the life of the man hailed by Neil MacGregor, a former director of the British Museum, as “the most brilliant cultural populist of the twentieth century.” B&w photos.

The man who wanted to civilize us all.Kenneth Clark's (1903-1983) name is synonymous with the BBC's massively popular 1969 series Civilisation, which he wrote and narrated. It helped him earn his peerage, but he was already a well-known personage at home before the series, as Stourton (Great Houses of London, 2012, etc.) shows in this outstanding, authorized biography. A distant Scottish relative invented the cotton spool, and henceforth the family was wealthy or, as Clark called his parents, the "idle rich." He grew up an only child in a massive home living a solitary life, but he loved it. Bright, energetic, and hardworking, he went to the best schools. His privilege brought him opportunity, and he took advantage of it. Clark always had a profound love of art, but two of his mentors, Bernard Berenson and Roger Fry, convinced him that it was his life's duty to promulgate "taste," to bring culture and beauty to the widest possible audience. This passion brought him early success: keepership of fine art at Oxford's Ashmolean Museum at 27 and, at 29, the youngest director of the National Gallery. King George V eventually convinced him to serve as Surveyor of the King's Pictures. Still, Clark found time to write. Leonardo da Vinci (1939) is now a classic, but he was "proudest" of The Nude (1956). After the Gallery, Clark taught at Oxford and gave popular and inspiring radio and TV talks, the "lifeblood of [his] reputation." In 1966, the BBC's David Attenborough approached Clark with an ambitious "project." Clark's wife thought it a "bad idea," but he plunged into Civilisation with gusto; it was "heaven." The three-year production was "unprecedented"; a huge success, it brought him "cult status." After it ran in America on PBS, Clark's reputation swelled. Stourton proves to be a highly capable guide to this significant 20th-century life. A sparkling, thoroughly entertaining portrait of a brilliant popularizer who brought art to the masses. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2016
Long before he embarked on Civilisation, the 1960s, now-iconic television series, Clark, at age 29, became the youngest director of Britain's National Gallery. During WWII, he saw to it that the museum's collection was safely hidden away in Welsh slate mines, and he helped organize Dame Myra Hess' daily concerts in the gallery's emptied space, even conducting one of them himself. In this comprehensive biography, Stourton (Great Houses of London, 2012) introduces us to both the extraordinarily accomplished public figure and the complex private man, writing: There are many Kenneth Clarks to describe. Stourton does so in a thorough and captivating biography rich in detail, bringing forward Clark's passion and scholarship as an influential art historian (particularly his standing as a Leonardo expert), his famous lectures, work as a journalist and a professor, achievements as a television performer and mogul, a darling of society, a lover, and a family man. Art enthusiasts and Anglophiles will enjoy the story of a remarkable individual and an illumination of the art world in Britain during the last century.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)