Sir kenneth clark biography of rory

For thirteen weeks from February to May 1969, British television viewers were transfixed by Kenneth Clark's visually sumptuous and richly informative Civilisation (BBC2), the most successful documentary series of its kind ever made, and a pioneer achievement in its time.

Kenneth McKenzie Clark was born in London in 1903.

The family owned a cotton-thread business that yielded a very substantial income. He was educated at Winchester School and Trinity College, Oxford, but perhaps the most formative period of his education was his subsequent two years in Florence working with the celebrated art historian Bernard Berenson.

At the age of 28 he was appointed Keeper of Fine Art at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, and two years later, in 1933, he became director of the National Gallery in London.

He held that post until 1945, having also been appointed Surveyor of the King's Pictures (responsible for the thousands of paintings and drawings in Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and