Sir Kenneth Clark, the art historian and broadcaster best known for the landmark 1969 BBC TV series Civilisation, has today been commemorated with an English Heritage London blue plaque. The plaque marks 30 Portland Place in Marylebone, Clark’s home during the 1930s when he became Director of the National Gallery and was knighted. The Grade II-listed property became a hub for artists and fashionable society during this time, with Sir Kenneth and his wife Jane hosting glittering parties attended by guests including Winston Churchill and Vanessa Bell.

Sir Kenneth Clark headed up several of Britain’s leading cultural organisations including the National Gallery, the Arts Council of Great Britain and the Independent Television Authority. He saved some of the nation’s most valuable pieces of artwork during the Second World War by evacuating over 800 paintings to rural Wales, was responsible for many of the Ministry of Information’s wartime films, and used his position to convince the government to offer wide scale support to the arts. He also sponsored emerging artists including Henry Moore and Graham Sutherland.

Dr Rebecca Preston, Blue Plaques Historian at English Heritage, said: "Sir Kenneth Clark was not only a superb art historian and broadcaster, but also a curator, collector, patron, writer and campaigner. He was a consummate communicator and skilfully used film as a tool of mass communication – most notably in the landmark TV series Civilisation, which demonstrated his firm belief in access to the arts for all. We are delighted to honour him with this blue plaque."

American filmmaker Michael Maglaras, who first proposed the blue plaque for Sir Kenneth Clark, added: "When I first saw Civilisation more than 50 years ago on American public television, it made an impression on me that I carry with me to this day. Now Lord Clark has been honoured with a Blue Plaque in London…a city where he was a vibrant and impressive reminder of the value of culture and the arts."

Biography

Born in 1903 into a wealthy family, Clark was educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Oxford, where he discovered John Ruskin and formulated an early belief in the value of art for all. In the summer of 1925, Clark was introduced to Bernard Berenson, a leading authority on Italian art, who invited him to work for him. In 1929, he was asked to help with the Italian Exhibition at the Royal Academy and, from there, held a series of curatorial positions including the Keeper of Fine Art at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum.

In 1934, at the age of 30, Clark became the youngest ever Director of the National Gallery, and shortly afterwards, Keeper of the King’s Pictures too. He oversaw the cleaning and re-presentation of the National Gallery collection, introduced longer opening hours and successfully developed the public profile of the gallery through his broadcasting. Within five years the number visitors to the Gallery had increased by 100,000. During this period, he also sponsored several struggling artists who would later become figures of national and international repute, including Henry Moore, Graham Sutherland and John Piper.

In 1939, as the Second World War broke out, Clark oversaw the removal of 800 of the Gallery’s most valuable paintings to safety in north Wales, bringing one picture back each month to be shown to the public. Controversially, given his lack of direct experience, Clark was then appointed head of the Ministry of Information’s Films Unit, producing documentaries and short films advising against 'careless talk'. In 1954, he became Chairman of the Independent Television Authority, and spent the next decade making over 60 television programmes, setting the cultural agenda for British TV.

In 1966, David Attenborough, controller of BBC2, had an idea for a series on 'the history of all the great things man had created', through which to launch colour TV in Britain, and invited Clark to develop, write and narrate it. In 1969, Civilisation was broadcast, telling the story of Western civilisation from the dark ages to 1914 through art and architecture. It was a huge success in both the UK and USA, propelling Clark to stardom.

Clark continued to make TV programmes into the 1970s. He died in 1983, aged 79, and is buried at Hythe, Kent.

The English Heritage London blue plaques scheme is generously supported by David Pearl and members of the public.

To find out more, visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques