Kenneth McKenzie Clark, Baron Clark of Saltwood, OM CH KCB, (July 13, 1903 – May 21, 1983) was an English author, museum director, broadcaster, and the most famous art historian of his generation. For other Orders see Order of Merit (disambiguation). ... The Order of the Companions of Honour is a British and Commonwealth Order (decoration). ... Badge of a Companion of the Order of the Bath (Military Division) The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (formerly The Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath)[1] is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. ... July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (142nd in leap years). ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... This article is about the academic discipline of art history. ...

Early life

Sir Kenneth was born in London, the only child of Kenneth MacKenzie Clark and Margaret Alice, a wealthy Scottish family with roots in the textile trade (the "Clark" in Coats & Clark threading). Sir Kenneth's grandfather had invented the cotton spool. Kenneth Clark the elder had retired in 1909 at the age of 41 to become a member of the 'idle rich' (as described by W. D. Rubinstein in The Biographical Dictionary of Life Peers). This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Motto: (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots2 Government  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - UK Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I 843  Area    - Total 78,772 km... Cotton ready for harvest. ... Spool can mean the following: Bobbin, cylinder or reel for winding yarn, thread, cable, or film. ... W. D. Rubinstein is a noted historian. ...

The younger Clark was educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Oxford, where he studied the history of art. In 1927 he married a fellow Oxford student, Elizabeth Jane Martin. The couple had three children: Alan, in 1928, and twins Colette (known as Celly) and Colin in 1932. Winchester College is a well-known boys independent school, and an example of a British public school, in the city of Winchester in Hampshire, England. ... College name Trinity College Named after The Holy Trinity Established 1555 Sister College Churchill College President Sir Ivor Roberts KCMG MA JCR President Kushal Banerjee Undergraduates 298 MCR President Andrew Ng Graduates 105 Homepage Boatclub Trinity College (in full: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 - 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative politician, historian and diarist. ...

Early career

An admirer of Ruskin and a protégé of the most influential art critic of the time, Bernard Berenson, Sir Kenneth quickly became the British art establishment's most respected aesthetician. After a stint as fine arts curator at Oxford's Ashmolean Museum, in 1933 at age 30, Clark was appointed director of the National Gallery. He was the youngest person ever to hold the post. The following year he also became Surveyor of the King's Pictures, a post he held until 1945. He was a controversial figure however, in part due to his distaste for much of modern art and Post-Modernist thought. Nevertheless, he was an influential supporter of modern sculptor Henry Moore and, as Chairman of the War Artists committee, he persuaded the government not to conscript artists thus ensuring that Moore found work. In 1946 Sir Kenneth resigned his directorship in order to devote more time to writing. Between 1946 and 1950 he was Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford. He was a founding board member and also served as Chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain from 1955 to 1960, and had a major role in the art program of the Festival of Britain. Upper: Steel-plate engraving of Ruskin as a young man, made circa 1845, scanned from print made circa 1895. ... Bernard Berenson in the garden of his estate Villa I Tatti in 1911 Bernard Berenson (born Bernhard Valvrojenski, June 26, 1865 – October 6, 1959), was an American art historian. ... Aesthetics (or esthetics) (from the Greek word αισθητική) is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty. ... The Ashmolean Museum (in full the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology) in Oxford, England is the worlds first university museum. ... The National Gallery from Trafalgar Square The National Gallery is an art gallery in London, located on the north side of Trafalgar Square. ... The Royal Collection Department is an organisation within the Royal Household tasked with the cataloguing, conservation, cleaning, restoration and display of the books, pictures, sculptures and other works of art collected by the British royal family. ... Modern art is a general term used for most of the artistic production from the late 19th century until approximately the 1970s. ... Postmodernism (sometimes abbreviated pomo) is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in critical theory, philosophy, architecture, art, literature, and culture, which are generally characterized as either emerging from, in reaction to, or superseding, modernism. ... Reclining Figure (1951) outside the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, is characteristic of Moores sculptures, with an abstract female figure intercut with voids. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Slade Professorship of Fine Art is the senior professorship of art at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and London. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... The Arts Council of Great Britain was a Quango dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Britain. ... The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition which opened in May 1951 in London. ...

Kenneth Clark was created Knight Commander of the Bath in 1938, and made a Companion of Honour in 1959. He also received the Order of Merit in 1976. In 1955 he purchased Saltwood Castle in Kent. Badge of a Companion of the Order of the Bath (Military Division) The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (formerly The Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath)[1] is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. ... The Order of the Companions of Honour is a British and Commonwealth Order. ... For other Orders see Order of Merit (disambiguation). ... Saltwood Castle ca. ... Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. ...

Clark the broadcaster

An indefatigable lecturer in both academic and broadcast settings, Sir Kenneth's mastery was to make accessible complex and profound subject matter that could then be appreciated by an extremely broad audience. He was one of the founders, in 1954, of the Independent Television Authority, serving as its Chairman until 1957, when he moved to ITA's rival BBC. In 1966 he wrote and produced Civilisation for BBC television, a series on the history of Western civilisation as seen through its art. When it was broadcast on PBS in 1969, Civilisation was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, catapulting Sir Kenneth to international fame. According to Sir Kenneth, the series was created in answer to the growing criticism of Western Civilisation, from its value system to its heroes. The Independent Television Authority (ITA) was a body created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of Independent Television (ITV), the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is one of the largest broadcasting corporations in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the UK alone and with a budget of more than £4 billion. ... Front cover Civilisation (full title, Civilisation: A Personal View) was a popular TV series outlining the history of Western society produced by the BBC and aired in 1969 on BBC Two. ... Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ...

A self-described "hero-worshipper", Sir Kenneth proved to be an ardent pro-individualist, Humanist, anti-marxist and anti-elitist. His comments on the subject of 1960's radical University students from a final episode of Civilisation, is but one example of his extremely critical view of Post Modernism in all its contemporary forms: "I can see them [the students] still through the University of the Sorbonne, impatient to change the world, vivid in hope, although what precisely they hope for, or believe in, I don't know". - Sir Kenneth Clark, Civilisation, Episode 12. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Postmodernism (sometimes abbreviated pomo) is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in critical theory, philosophy, architecture, art, literature, and culture, which are generally characterized as either emerging from, in reaction to, or superseding, modernism. ... The Sorbonne, Paris, in a 17th century engraving The Sorbonne today, from the same point of view The Sorbonne is frequently used in ordinary parlance as synonymous with the faculty of theology of Paris or the University of Paris in its entirety. ...

Sir Kenneth believed in the sublime and noble nature of man, and his quiet, witty and often devastating criticism of environmentalism, the Monarchy, religious authoritarianism and Statism continues to win him praise from a wide range of the political spectrum, most notably from those of a Classical Liberal and Objectivist mind-set. And yet, Sir Kenneth was also able to see the Church as a repository for the best minds that the West had produced, a place where men of action were necessarily attracted. A highly tolerant man, in discussing those with whom he disagreed, Sir Kenneth was able in a dignified and respectful manner, to illustrate his differences along with effectively expressing his praise. Statism (or Etatism) is a very loose and often derogatory term that is used to describe: Specific instances of state intervention in personal, social or economic matters. ... Liberalism is a political current embracing several historical and present-day ideologies that claim defense of individual liberty as the purpose of government. ... Objectivism is a philosophy[1] developed by Ayn Rand that encompasses positions on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics. ...

Later life

He was Chancellor of the University of York from 1967 to 1978 and a trustee of the British Museum. Clark was awarded a life peerage in 1969, taking the title Baron Clark of Saltwood in the County of Kent (The British satirical magazine Private Eye nicknamed him Lord Clark of Civilisation). A Chancellor is the head of a university. ... The University of York is a campus university in York, England. ... The centre of the museum was redeveloped in 2000 to become the Great Court, with a tessellated glass roof by Buro Happold and Foster and Partners surrounding the original Reading Room. ... In the United Kingdom, Life Peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles may not be inherited (those whose titles are inheritable are known as hereditary peers). ... Private eye may mean: Look up Private eye on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Private Eye a fortnightly British satirical magazine-newspaper, edited by Ian Hislop (as of 2005) A private investigator, a private detective for hire (see also crime fiction and detective fiction) Private Eye, a song by Alkaline Trio...

In 1975 he supported the campaign to create a separate Turner Gallery for the Turner Bequest (an aim still unfulfilled) and in 1980 agreed to open a symposium on Turner at the University of York, of which he had been Chancellor, but illness compelled him to back out of that commitment, which Lord Harewood undertook in his place.

His wife Jane died in 1976 and the following year Lord Clark married Nolwen de Janzé-Rice, former wife of Edward Rice, and daughter of the Count of Janzé alias Comte Frederic de Janze (a well-known French racing driver of the 1920s and 1930s) by his wife Alice Silverthorne (better known by her married names as Alice de Janze or Alice de Trafford), a wealthy American heiress resident in Kenya. Both her first husband and her father were wealthy landowners. Lord Clark died in Hythe after a short illness in 1983. Alice de Janzé, née Silverthorne (28 September 1899 – 30 September 1941[1]), also known as Alice de Trafford, was an American heiress who spent several years in Kenya, where she was involved in a famous murder case. ... Hythe is a small coastal market town, on the edge of Romney Marsh, in the District of Shepway on the south coast of Kent. ...

His elder son, Alan Clark, became a prominent Conservative MP and was a writer-historian. Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 - 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative politician, historian and diarist. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ...

Sir Kenneth continues to be a source of inspiration for many contemporary artists, historians and television producers.

Quotes

• "The great artist takes what he needs."
• "Heroes don't often tolerate the company of other heroes."
• "Seen by itself the David's body might be some unusually taut and vivid work of antiquity; it is only when we come to the head that we are aware of a spiritual force that the ancient world never knew. I suppose that this quality, which I may call heroic, is not a part of most people's idea of civilisation. It involves a contempt for convenience and a sacrifice of all those pleasures that contribute to what we call civilised life. It is the enemy of happiness."
• "Opera, next to Gothic architecture, is one of the strangest inventions of Western man. It could not have been foreseen by any logical process."
• "People sometimes tell me that they prefer barbarism to civilization. I doubt if they have given it a long enough trial. Like the people of Alexandria, they are bored by civilisation; but all the evidence suggests that the boredom of barbarism is infinitely greater."
• "It is lack of confidence, more than anything else, that kills a civilisation. We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs."
• "Lives devoted to Beauty seldom end well."
• "I wonder if a single thought that has helped forward the human spirit has ever been conceived or written down in an enormous room: except, perhaps, in the reading room of the British Museum."

The Teatro alla Scala in Milan. ... Gothic architecture is a style of architecture, particularly associated with cathedrals and other churches, which flourished in Europe during the high and late medieval period. ... The term Western World or the West can have multiple meanings depending on its context. ... This article is about the city in Egypt. ...

References in Popular Culture

In Episode 37 of the television series "Monty Python's Flying Circus", Sir Kenneth is portrayed in a boxing match against Jack Bodell, then UK heavyweight champion. Since Clark merely paces the ring lecturing about English renaissance art and does not throw any punches, Bodell knocks him out in the first round. Bodell is thus named the new Professor of Fine Art at Oxford.

Books

• The Gothic Revival (1928)
• Catalogue of the Windsor Leonardo Drawings (1935)
• Leonardo da Vinci (1939)
• Piero della Francesca (1951)
• Landscape into Art (1949)
• Moments of Vision (1954), the Romanes Lecture for 1954. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• The Nude (1956)
• Looking at Pictures (1960)
• Ruskin Today (1964) (edited and annotated by)
• Rembrandt and the Italian Renaissance (1966)
• Civilisation (1969)
• Blake and Visionary Art (1973)
• Another Part of the Wood (1974) (autobiography)
• The Other Half (1977) (autobiography)
• What is a Masterpiece? (1979)
• Feminine Beauty (1980)
• The Romantic Rebellion (1986)

The Romanes Lecture is a prestigious free public lecture given annually at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford. ...

Further reading

• Meryle Secrest. Kenneth Clark: A Biography (1985)

References

• Vital Vulgarity Sir Kenneth's role in the founding of ITV (from the Transdiffusion group of TV history websites)
• http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/message/an/localities.africa.general/435.3 – for Lord Clark's second marriage to Nolwen, and her maternal affiliation
• http://www.cousinconnect.com/d/a/11502 – for Lady Clark's mother

External link

• Portraits of Kenneth Clark at the National Portrait Gallery, London