Kenneth Clark

This biography traces the life of Kenneth Clark, the British art historian who rose from a privileged upbringing to lead the National Gallery in London and became one of the best-known voices on art through television. Meryle Secrest, an American writer known for her biographies of artists and public figures, examines his career as a scholar, administrator and broadcaster, along with the personal life behind his public image.

Clark is remembered for the landmark television series Civilisation, which he presented in the late 1960s and which brought Western art and ideas to a wide audience. Secrest's account places that work alongside his earlier scholarship and his influential role in British cultural life.