Kenneth Clark, Baron Clark
(1903-1983), Art historian and museum directorSitter in 29 portraits
Artist of 1 portrait
Clark was born in London, the son of a textile industrialist in Paisley, brought up in Suffolk, and educated at Winchester and Oxford. He became Keeper of Fine Art at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (1931-33) and, at 31, the youngest Director of the National Gallery (1934-45), and Slade Professor of Fine Art (1946-50). In 1939 he persuaded the Ministry of Information to keep professional artists out of the front line. He became a household name with the television series Civilisation (1969), which brought the history of western culture to a vast new audience. Knighted in 1938, Clark was made a life peer in 1969, when Private Eye called him Lord Clark of Civilisation.
Pax! (Kenneth Clark, Baron Clark; Augustus John and nine other unknown sitters)
after Ernest Forbes
gravure, published in The Sketch 27 January 1937
NPG D47455
by Norman Peter Dawson
pencil, 1939
NPG D611
by Norman Peter Dawson
pen and ink and wash, 1939
NPG D612
by Norman Peter Dawson
pencil, 1939
NPG D613
by Cecil Beaton
pencil, late 1960s-early 1970s
NPG D17947(83)
by Bill Brandt
bromide print, published in Harper's Bazaar December 1944
NPG P187
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