Kenneth Clark: a beginner's guide

It’s not often an art historian gets a dedicated museum show, so it’s testament to the talents of Kenneth Clark (1903-1983) that Tate Britain is launching 'Kenneth Clark: Looking for Civilisation', a survey of his life and work. Here are five things you need to know about the great man

He was TV's original Mr Art
Long before Andrew Graham-Dixon or dishy Dr James Fox, Clark owned visual arts on the box with 'Civilisation'. Bestriding the globe, in this groundbreaking 1969 series he traced the history of western culture, popularising his subject and becoming documentary TV's first star in the process. Earlier this year The BBC announced that it plans to remake the series. Clark's presenting shoes have yet to be filled.

He evacuated our paintings in peril
When he took up the reins at the National Gallery in 1933, Clark was just 30 years old. He was (and remains) its youngest ever director but his tenure came with some exceptional responsibilities. Faced with the threat of carpet bombing and invasion at the end of the 1930s Clark oversaw the evacuation of the National Gallery's paintings to Wales. He helped to keep up the Blitz spirit by making sure the NG's programme of talks and concerts continued during the war

He invented war art as we know it
Clark was instrumental in setting up the War Artists Advisory Committee at the beginning of WWII, with the aim of compiling a record of Britain at home and abroad during war. Eric Ravilious, Edward Bawden, Jonh Piper and Graham Sutherland were among the hundreds of artists commissioned. By the time the committeed was dissolved in 1945, nearly 6000 works had been produced, including Henry Moore's famous 'shelter drawings'.

He helped out hard-up Brit artists of the day
Of wealthy Scottish extraction (the Clarks were big in textiles) Kenneth amassed a considerable collection of his own, much of which is on display in Tate Britain's show. His preference was for representational art that straddles a line between modernity and tradition. Henry Moore's biomorphs went down particularly well chez Clark.

He influence is everywhere
Clark wasn't just the ultimate art world grandee, he spread his tentacles of influence through the worlds of theatre, dance and popular culture. After the war he set up the Arts Council and helped to programme the Festival of Britain. Soon after that he became the first chairman of the Independent Television Authority, which made Britain's first commercial TV. Arguably, without him there would be no 'All Star Family Fortunes' or 'Take Me Out'.