Kenneth Clark: Life, Art and Civilisation

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BERGER PRIZE FOR BRITISH ART HISTORY 2017
SHORTLISTED FOR THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE 2017

A SUNDAY TIMES ART BOOK OF THE YEAR
A SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR
AN ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEAR
A NEW YORK TIMES ART BOOK OF THE YEAR

From his time as Bernard Berenson’s protégé to being the Keeper of the Western Art at just 27 and his appointment as the youngest-ever director of the National Gallery, Kenneth Clark displayed precocious genius. No voice has exercised so much power and influence over the arts in Britain as Clark’s.

A Formidable Aesthete

Kenneth Clark’s coterie included John Betjeman, Winston Churchill, Margot Fonteyn, E.M. Forster, Vivien Leigh, the Queen Mother and Henry Moore. Hidden from view, however, were the personal struggles within his life, including his wife Jane’s alcoholism and his own philandering.

A Dazzling Biography

In James Stourton’s biography, Clark is revealed as a man who conveyed the profound beauty and importance of art, architecture and civilisation for generations to come.