Kenneth Clark: A Biography
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Few figures in the twentieth century did more to bring art to the masses than Kenneth Clark — the aristocratic scholar, broadcaster, and visionary whose landmark BBC television series Civilisation captivated millions and redefined the public's relationship with Western art. Meryle Secrest's authoritative biography chronicles the full arc of Clark's remarkable life, from his privileged Edwardian upbringing and his precocious apprenticeship under Bernard Berenson at the Villa I Tatti, through his tenure as the youngest-ever director of the National Gallery and his influential role as Surveyor of the King's Pictures, to his celebrated emergence as one of the most recognisable cultural voices of the modern age. Secrest brings a rigorous yet deeply human touch to her subject, unraveling the contradictions within a man who moved effortlessly between the corridors of power and the rarefied world of aesthetic contemplation, yet remained privately restless and emotionally complex. Drawing on extensive interviews and personal correspondence, she presents a portrait of a polymath whose ambitions, insecurities, and extraordinary achievements illuminate the broader cultural tensions of twentieth-century Britain. For anyone captivated by the intersection of art, power, and personality, this biography poses a compelling question: what does it truly cost to dedicate a life to beauty?
Author: Meryle Secrest
Format: Hardback
Published: 1984, Weidenfeld and Nicolson
Genre: Biography
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Few figures in the twentieth century did more to bring art to the masses than Kenneth Clark — the aristocratic scholar, broadcaster, and visionary whose landmark BBC television series Civilisation captivated millions and redefined the public's relationship with Western art. Meryle Secrest's authoritative biography chronicles the full arc of Clark's remarkable life, from his privileged Edwardian upbringing and his precocious apprenticeship under Bernard Berenson at the Villa I Tatti, through his tenure as the youngest-ever director of the National Gallery and his influential role as Surveyor of the King's Pictures, to his celebrated emergence as one of the most recognisable cultural voices of the modern age. Secrest brings a rigorous yet deeply human touch to her subject, unraveling the contradictions within a man who moved effortlessly between the corridors of power and the rarefied world of aesthetic contemplation, yet remained privately restless and emotionally complex. Drawing on extensive interviews and personal correspondence, she presents a portrait of a polymath whose ambitions, insecurities, and extraordinary achievements illuminate the broader cultural tensions of twentieth-century Britain. For anyone captivated by the intersection of art, power, and personality, this biography poses a compelling question: what does it truly cost to dedicate a life to beauty?