The definitive biography of this brilliant polymath--director of the National Gallery, author, patron of the arts, social lion, and singular pioneer of television--that also tells the story of the arts in the twentieth century through his astonishing life. Kenneth Clark's thirteen-part 1969 television series, Civilisation, established him as a globally admired figure. Clark was prescient in making this series: the upheavals of the century, the Cold War among others, convinced him of the power of barbarism and the fragility of culture. He would burnish his image with two memoirs that artfully omitted the more complicated details of his life. Now, drawing on a vast, previously unseen archive, James Stourton reveals the formidable intellect and the private man behind the figure who effortlessly dominated the art world for more than half a century: his privileged upbringing, his interest in art history beginning at Oxford, his remarkable early successes. At 27 he was keeper of Western Art at the Ashmolean in Oxford and at 29, the youngest director of The National Gallery. During the war he arranged for its entire collection to be hidden in slate mines in Wales and organized packed concerts of classical music at the Gallery to keep up the spirits of Londoners during the bombing. WWII helped shape his belief that art should be brought to the widest audience, a social and moral position that would inform the rest of his career. Television became a means for this message when he was appointed the first chairman of the Independent Television Authority. Stourton reveals the tortuous state of his marriage during and after the war, his wife's alcoholism, and the aspects of his own nature that he worked to keep hidden. A superb work of biography, Kenneth Clark is a revelation of its remarkable subject.

Kenneth Clark: Life, Art and Civilisation

Arts & Photography

Stourton, James

History & Criticism

Vintage

Throughout his brilliant, multifaceted career as a scholar and patron of the arts, Kenneth Clark, later Lord Clark of Saltwood worked tirelessly to bring art to the people. Born in 1903 to a wealthy family and educated at Oxford, Clark became the youngest-ever director of the National Gallery at age twenty-nine. In 1939, as war with Hitler loomed, he arranged for the Gallery’s paintings to be hidden in slate mines in Wales to keep them safe. When the air raids began, he held concerts at the Gallery to keep up the spirits of Londoners. Later, at the height of the Cold War, his program Civilisation brilliantly conveyed a message of humanism and hope—wrapped inside a thirteen-part history lesson on Western art—to a remarkably wide audience. A man of contradictions, he was an elitist who believed to his core that access to art was “the right of every man.” With Kenneth Clark, James Stourton gives us the definitive biography of an unlikely popularizer—and renews Clark’s vision of art as a powerful force against the threat of chaos.

Humor & Entertainment

"This magnificent book, the fullest account ever written on its absorbing subject, will come as a revelation, even to those who think they know London, for many of the great town mansions featured in it, a good number of which are still in private occupation, are very little known and have never been illustrated before… a major contribution to British architectural and social history." - Professor David Watkin, Professor Emeritus, Department of History of Art, University of Cambridge The great houses of London represent one of the marvels of English architecture and yet they are almost entirely unknown. They are for the most part disguised behind sober facades but their riches within are astonishing. From the romantic 17th century Ashburnham House, nestling in the shadow of Westminster Abbey, through the splendid 18th century aristocratic palaces of the West End, to the curious and quirky arts and crafts houses of Holland Park and Kensington, to the cool modernist houses of Hampstead and the exuberant post-modern interiors of the last thirty years, every house has its own story to tell.

Great Houses of London

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Frances Lincoln

'This lavishly illustrated compendium suggest that the age of elegance endures' Mail on Sunday The great houses of London represent one of the marvels of English architecture and yet they are almost entirely unknown. They are for the most part disguised behind sober facades but their riches within are astonishing. There are many architectural wonders, among them Robert Adam's 20 St James's Square and William Burges's Tower House. Several - including Bridgewater House with its Raphaels and Titians - have held great art collections. These are houses that hold extraordinary stories: half the Cabinet resigned after breakfast at Stratford House; and on 4 August 1914, at 9 Carlton House Terrace, then the German Embassy, young duty clerk Harold Nicholson deftly substituted one declaration of war for another. Great Houses of London opens the door to some of the greatest and grandest houses in the world to tell the stories of their owners and occupants, artists and architects, their restoration, adaptation and change.

A unique and glamorous book about British Imperial and post-Imperial architecture and a lively and evocative read for anyone interested in the international projection of British power and culture. British Embassies have a special role in our history. They represent our country in bricks and stone and have often expressed – at least in the eyes of foreigners – our national character. Whether they are Lutyens buildings in Washington, grand palaces in Europe, beautiful old colonial buildings in Asia, or secure compounds in the Middle East, they all have stories to tell and reveal the changing face of British diplomacy. A mixture of history, architectural description, diplomacy and anecdote, this large format picture book covers Residences and embassies in twenty-six countries to provide an authoritative text, accompanied by newly commissioned photography.

British Embassies: Their Diplomatic and Architectural History

History

Europe

Discover the stories of some of the most breathaking and historic great houses of London, along with their secrets, in this lavishly illustrated compedium.\nLondon has a wealth of truly stunning great houses, seen by many as one of the marvels of English architecture, and yet to many their histories, their interiors and their occupants remain unknown.\nThis book, illustrated throughout with sumptuous photography of these breathaking residences, reveals to us this secret world of riches and splendour.\nFrom the baroque and imposing magnificence of 10 Downing Street, perhaps London's most famous address, to the extraordinary Pre-Raphaelite mosaics of Debenham House to the confident, futuristic steel and glass of the Richard Rogers House in Chelsea, this book showcases these properties and details their origin as well as the many transformations they have undergone from their construction to the present day.\nThere are many architectural wonders, among them Robert Adam's 20 St James’s Square and William Burges’s Tower House. Several — including Bridgewater House with its Raphaels and Titians — have held great art collections.\nThese are houses that hold extraordinary stories: half the Cabinet resigned after breakfast at Stratford House; and on 4 August 1914, at 9 Carlton House Terrace — then the German Embassy — young duty clerk Harold Nicholson deftly substituted one declaration of war for another.\nWith photography by the world-famous and multi-award winning Fritz von der Schulenburg, this title brings these houses to life in all their grandeur, and text from historian and author James Stourton delves into the many fascinating stories hidden behind the walls of these homes.\nGreat Houses of London opens the door to some of the greatest and grandest houses in the world to tell the stories of their owners and occupants, artists and architects, their restoration, adaptation and change.\nNow available in a more compact format.

Travel

Rogues and Scholars: A History of the London Art World: 1945-2000

Pegasus Books

This lively personal tour takes the reader on a fascinating exploration of thirty-five of Europe's greatest smaller museums. None are national collections, but all, in their various ways, are glorious, containing some of the world's greatest art treasures. Most art lovers will be familiar with some of the collections; very few will know them all. From the Mus,e Marmottan in Paris to the Czartoryski Collection in Krakcw, the Louisiana Humlebk in Copenhagen to London's Dulwich Picture Gallery, little known treasure houses are uncovered alongside fresh evaluations of those that are better known. Organised by European country, the text is written with great wit and scholarship, describing collections that are royal and aristocratic, patrician and bourgeois, academic and university, artists' houses and museums or twentieth-century foundations.

Great Smaller Museums of Europe

Reference

Scala Publishers

Great Collectors of Our Time is the first major survey of contemporary collecting and collectors since Douglas Cooper's Great Private Collections, published in 1963. It examines many of the greatest collectors of our time in Europe, North America and the Far East, and follows their tastes - whether in the Old Masters or the avant garde - from the 20th century into the 21st. In 1945, Paris was still the cultural capital of the world, but its culture was being increasingly challenged by America. American collecting was soon to pull up its European anchor and move across the Atlantic, in growing acceptance of America's own art, the decline in the domination of three European schools of art - Italian Renaissance, English 18th century and French 19th century Impressionism - and the rise of the New York School and contemporary art. Prior to 1939, collecting was a private pleasure, sometimes intellectual and scholarly, but more often about enhancing surroundings - 'la douceur de vivre'. Today, colle

Great Collectors of our Time: Art Collecting Since 1945

Scala Arts & Heritage

A remarkable new book presenting a comprehensive survey of British art collectors down the centuries.

The British as Art Collectors: From the Tudors to the Present

Sebag-Montefiore, Charles

Scala Arts Publishers, Inc.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Stourton, James. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Stourton, James

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Stourton, James. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Kenneth Clark: Life, Art and Civilisation

Kenneth Clark: Life, Art and Civilisation

Great Houses of London

Great Houses of London

British Embassies: Their Diplomatic and Architectural History

Great Houses of London

Rogues and Scholars: A History of the London Art World: 1945-2000

Great Smaller Museums of Europe

Great Collectors of our Time: Art Collecting Since 1945

The British as Art Collectors: From the Tudors to the Present