In the same letter in which he expressed his lack of concern about the biography, Alan also asked Meryle for the return of the letters she had taken with her to America. She claimed that Kenneth Clark had allowed her to keep them, which surprised Clark’s archivist Margaret Slythe and his secretary Catherine Porteous. When the letters were not returned, Alan consulted lawyers. The problems were considerable: the involvement of US lawyers would be expensive; more serious was the fact that no one knew what letters Meryle had in her possession, since no list existed. Alan had no idea what exactly he was asking for, nor the basis on which the letters had been taken to America.
The matter went into limbo until Alan died in 1999, after which Meryle did two things. In October 2000 she returned a tranche of family letters and photographs to Alan’s widow Jane – she later told the author that Alan’s hostility had prevented her from returning them sooner. In the meantime she sold all the non-family letters, to which she added the letters Lord Clark had written to her while she worked on his biography. These were sold by private treaty, via Bloomsbury Book Auctions, to Harvard University for deposit at I Tatti, where they may be consulted today.3 Their importance to I Tatti was due to the fact that they included all the pre-war letters from Bernard Berenson to Clark. The Tate Gallery, to which they were also offered, turned them down because of concerns about provenance.
Appendix II:
‘Suddenly People are Curious About Clark Again’1
Kenneth Clark’s academic reputation suffered an eclipse after his death. His conservative attitude became more out of tune with contemporary social appreciation of the meaning and purpose of art. In fact this process had begun during his lifetime, and was exemplified in most people’s minds by the Ways of Seeing television series and book by John Berger (1972). Peter Fuller called it ‘Berger’s anti-Clark lecture’, and it is easy to see why, for Berger quotes passages from Landscape Into Art and The Nude. In fact Ways of Seeing was aimed as much at the deceits inherent in filming art for television as at Clark, for whom Berger felt admiration and exasperation in equal measure.
It is surprisingly difficult to find examples of frontal attacks on Clark during the decade after his death, but the growing breed of academic art historians tended to regard him as a grandee from another age.* To the professionals he was a gentleman aesthete of the old school, albeit one who wrote like an angel. For a time it seemed as though Mary Glasgow’s prediction, ‘I have a feeling that posterity will not say the right things about him,’2 might be true. But the book, and later DVD, sales of Civilisation show that Clark’s following among the general public remained enthusiastic.3 Those who were inclined to denigrate him during his lifetime continued to do so, but those who admired him were unaffected. The fact that interest in Clark persisted owed much to Civilisation and the quality of his prose, but also to his enigmatic personality and intriguing private life.
There was, however, an undefined sense that there was more to him than that, and that the narrative was far from complete. Recently, a series of radio and television programmes, and a major exhibition at the Tate Gallery, have begun to re-examine his legacy. Inevitably they focused on Civilisation. Although the clothes and the patrician manner make the series look increasingly like a period piece, the episodes – with all the original objections – remain stubbornly interesting to a now older generation who want to renew their acquaintance with it. For younger audiences Clark’s manner and clothes, and the cascade of information, hold less charm: attempts to show episodes to classes of modern students have rarely been wholly successful.4
The Clark story began to attract revised media attention with John Wyver’s 1993 documentary K: Kenneth Clark 1903–1983. Wyver was fortunate to secure interviews with all three children – particularly Colin, who was notably frank on camera. Lew Grade, Ernst Gombrich, Michael Gill and Myfanwy Piper all gave interesting interviews – it was just about the last moment that such a group could be convened. Four years later came a programme on Radio 4, K: The Civilised World of Kenneth Clark, to which James Lees-Milne contributed: ‘I listened to Radio 4 documentary on K Clark…the closing words came from me – “He may not have had a great soul, but he had a great mind.” ’5 In 2003, on the same channel, came Miranda Carter’s Lord Clark: Servant of Civilisation, in which Neil MacGregor reflected on Clark’s legacy: ‘I think Clark articulated better than anybody else the notion that access to high culture is the right of every citizen, and that you changed society by ensuring that your citizens have access to the best, and he showed that it could be done and he’s made it easy for people to go on defending that ideal.’6 Art programmes were by now very well established on television, with all tastes catered for by the likes of Robert Hughes and Brian Sewell, but as MacGregor opined: ‘Nobody can talk about pictures on the radio or on the television without knowing that Clark did it first and Clark did it better.’7
The year 2009 was something of a watershed in Clark studies. First there was Radio 4’s Seeing Through the Tweed, which began by suggesting that Clark was in danger of becoming regarded as a caricature out-of-touch ‘toff’: ‘He seemed to be the tweedy relic of a cultural elite which was being punched around by a younger generation.’8 Stefan Collini identified his detractors: ‘Three groups criticised Clark: academics, social theorists on the left, and…democratic and other community-based arts enterprises.’ It took David Attenborough to make the point that ‘People don’t necessarily dislike toffs. Toffs who speak directly are quite appealing.’ The programme gave airtime to the view of Clark as a relic of a deferential society, but came to the conclusion that although he was never a populist, he was a populariser.
In the same year came a seminar on Clark at the National Gallery, ‘Back to Civilisation’, organised by a young scholar, Jonathan Conlin (who published that year a pioneering book on Civilisation in the ‘TV Classics’ series). The seminar was led by the gallery director Nicholas Penny, but the star turn was David Attenborough, representing the Civvy crew, who with his customary charm opened his talk with: ‘Now look here, we don’t want to appear like a lot of old soldiers polishing our medals!’ No one was more surprised by the enormous success of the day than Michael Gill’s TV critic son Adrian, who thought it was ‘astonishing that the large lecture hall was packed. All day.’9
A major milestone of the Clark ‘revival’ was the 2014 exhibition at Tate Britain organised by Chris Stephens and John-Paul Stonard, ‘Looking for Civilisation’. This was the most thorough exploration of Clark’s public life to date, and attempted to chart his role in the transition from the arts being patronised by a minority to becoming a matter of general interest. It was accompanied by an hour-long BBC Culture Show special produced by Kate Misrahi and broadcast on a Saturday evening on BBC2. Finally, the Clark–Berenson letters were published in 2014, superbly annotated by Robert Cumming. Interest in Kenneth Clark shows little sign of abating among an older generation, although a younger generation of admirers has yet to discover him.
* * *
* The Courtauld Institute named its new lecture theatre at Somerset House after Clark, a fund-raising initiative suggested by Catherine Porteous. A group of Clark’s friends including Lord Drogheda, Michael Levey, Jock Murray, John Piper and Irene Worth signed a round-robin letter (23 October 1985, copy in author’s archive), and the Henry Moore Foundation got the ball rolling with a £50,000 donation. The Civilisation crew all donated, except Michael Gill, who felt he had done enough already to promote Clark’s legacy.
Acknowledgements
Her Majesty the Queen graciously gave me permission to quote from letters in the Royal Archive at Windsor Castle.
The following very kindly agreed to be interviewed: Sir David Attenborough OM, Madeleine, Countess of Bessborough, Sir Alan Bowness, Professor Christopher Brown (on Rembrandt and Martin Davies), Humphrey Burton, Miranda Carter, Rose Carver, Faith Clark, the Earl of Crawford, Lord Crickhowell, Joan Dawson (the cook at Albany), the late Sir Denis Forman, Angelique Gaussen, Yvonn
e Gilan (Mrs Michael Gill), Philida Gili, Adrian Gill, Rosalind Gilmore, Lord Grade, Sheila Hale, Maggie Hanbury, Carolyn Holder, John and Caryl Hubbard, Neil MacGregor, John Mallet, Mary Moore, Sir Nicholas Penny, Clarissa Piper, Michael Redington, James Reeve, Sir Hugh Roberts, Gill Ross, Francis Russell, Philip Rylands, Lord Sainsbury, Meryle Secrest, the late Brian Sewell, Margaret Slythe, Emma Stone, Humphrey and Solveig Stone, Sir Roy Strong, Catriona Williams, Ivor Windsor and John Wyver.
The surviving crew of Civilisation gave me fascinating material: David Heycock, Ken Macmillan, Peter Montagnon, Ann Turner and Maggie Crane. Robert McNab worked with Clark on The Romantic Rebellion, and helped me greatly on his television career.
The following gave me assistance in various ways: Dr Ayla Lepine, who helped me with The Gothic Revival, Artemis Cooper, John Julius Norwich, David and Lucy Abel-Smith, Stephen Conrad, Bill Zachs, Robin Taylor, Christopher Booker, Dudley Dodd, John Somerville, Tim Llewellyn, Richard Heathcote, Bevis Hillier, Luke Syson (on Leonardo), Victoria Glendinning, Hannah Kaye, Louis Jebb, Professor Brian Foss (on War Artists), Ben Moorhead (about his grandmother Elizabeth Kirwan-Taylor), Professor Alan Powers, Professor David Watkin, Martin Royalton-Kisch, William Shawcross, Jennifer Fletcher, Lady Roberts, Daniel Rosenthal (on the National Theatre), Henry Irvine (who unlocked the mysteries of the Ministry of Information archive at Kew, and for his great knowledge of the subject), Audrey Scales (who gave me wonderful reminiscences of working for Clark), Simon Pierse (for his knowledge of Clark in Australia), Louisa Riley-Smith and Michael Delon (the principal collector of Kenneth Clark material).
Special thanks to Robert and Carolyn Cumming, who edited the Clark–Berenson letters and were very generous with their knowledge and material. Catherine Porteous, Lord Clark’s former secretary, knows more than anybody else, pointed me to a great many of his old friends and colleagues, and made numerous excellent suggestions. Margaret Slythe, the former archivist at Saltwood, supplied me with a fascinating memoir of life there.
The organisers of the 2014 Tate exhibition and I had an exceptionally happy collaboration: Chris Stevens, John-Paul Stonard and Peter Rumley. The same is true of Kate Misrahi and Tracey Li, the makers of the Culture Show special on Clark aired on 31 May 2014.
The following archivists and librarians were particularly helpful to me: Claire Cabrie of Paisley Library; Suzanne Foster of Winchester College Archive; Ian Rawes and Rachel Garman from the Sound Archive of the British Library; Gavin Clarke of the National Theatre Archive; and Clare Smith of the National Museum of Wales. In Oxford I was greatly assisted by Richard Ovenden and his team at the Bodleian Library, Chris Fletcher and Colin Harris. The other Oxford librarians who were extremely helpful were Gaye Morgan at All Souls, Clare Hopkins at Clark’s old college Trinity, Cliff Davies at Wadham, and Caroline Palmer and Jon Whiteley at the Ashmolean Museum. The staff of the London Library were ever helpful and knowledgeable, in particular Guy Penman. Further thanks to Pam Clark and Allison Derrett of the Royal Archives, Windsor; Dr Patricia McGuire of King’s College, Cambridge; Jude Brimmer of the Benjamin Britten Estate, Aldeburgh; Valerie Potter, who lent me Mary Potter’s correspondence; Jane Allen of the Orford Museum, who was able to add flesh to the Sudbourne story; Alan Crookham of the National Gallery, who never stopped producing interesting material and checked the chapters relating to the gallery; Sue Breakell of the Design Council Archive at Brighton; Richard Calvocoressi, the director of the Henry Moore Foundation, who made my visit there a delight; Ian Marsland at the ITA Archive at Bournemouth University; Paul Cartledge of Yellow Boat Music; Kenneth Dunn at the National Library in Scotland, who produced all the Crawford papers; John Murray for the John Murray London archives; and the staff of Bernard Berenson’s old home near Florence, I Tatti, who were exceptionally hospitable. My greatest thanks, however, are to the staff of the Tate Britain Clark Archive, who were the soul of patience and kindness when I spent a year there.
A number of friends read either the whole or part of the manuscript and gave me extremely sound advice: Jane Ridley, Peter Rumley, John-Paul Stonard, Adam Sisman and Richard Davenport-Hines (who taught me the rudiments of biography), Professor Edward Chaney, Giles Waterfield, Professor David Ekserdjian, Jane Martineau, Caroline Elam (whose remarks were especially valuable), Charles Saumarez Smith, Professor Sir David Cannadine (staunch friend and encourager), Dr Jonathan Conlin and Nicolas Barker.
I was appointed to this task by Lord Clark’s daughter-in-law, Jane Clark. She has given me continuous support and access to everything at Saltwood, and has been generous and helpful in every way. Lord Clark’s daughter Colette has been the main witness, and her friendship and advice have been of immense importance from the beginning. The book could not have been written without the support of these two remarkable ladies. My predecessor as authorised biographer, Fram Dinshaw, handed the baton to me with grace and generosity. His support, knowledge and advice have been invaluable. He also provided the transcripts of the letters to Janet Stone which I have used so often.
Finally, thanks to the home team: three researchers who assisted me, Sophie Bostock and Lucy Garrett in the UK, and Helen Lally in the US; my agent Georgina Capel; my editor at HarperCollins, Arabella Pike; my meticulous copy editor Robert Lacey; my assistant Kate Atkins, who patiently brought the material together; and to Charity, who has lived with it and given me unstinting support and excellent advice from the very beginning.
Notes
Fuller details of the archives and collections referred to in these notes can be found in the Bibliography, this page.
Foreword
1. Clark, Another Part of the Wood, p.273
2. Letter to Denys Sutton, 7 July 1969, Tate 8812/1/4/111. Clark was referring to Sutton’s edition of Roger Fry’s letters
Chapter 1: ‘K’
1. Daily Telegraph, 10 October 1974
2. Clark, Another Part of the Wood, p.237
3. Clark, ‘Aesthete’s Progress’, John Murray Archive
4. Letter to John Hubbard, 30 May 1972, Tate 8812/1/4/36
5. Clark, Another Part of the Wood, p.45
6. Yvonne Gilan to author
7. Colin Clark, Younger Brother, Younger Son, p.6
8. Sunday Times, 27 September 1959, p.5
9. Michael Levey, obituary of Kenneth Clark, Proceedings of the British Academy, Vol. LXX, 1984
10. Sunday Times, 16 September 1984, p.42
11. Burlington Magazine, July 1973, Vol. CXV, No. 844, p.415
Chapter 2: Edwardian Childhood
1. Either the year is wrong or Knowles saw an advance copy. I Tatti
2. Colin Clark, Younger Brother, Younger Son, p.3
3. See BBC interview with Joan Bakewell, 28 February 1969, in which he paints a happy picture
4. Letter to Lord Crawford, 10 August 1944[?], Crawford Papers, National Library of Scotland
5. Letter to Meryle Secrest, 7 November 1978, I Tatti
6. As expressed in episode 13 of Civilisation
7. See obituary in the Paisley and Renfrewshire Gazette, 22 October 1932, under the heading ‘Death of well-known Paisley gentleman: Notable Yachtsman’
8. Letter to Meryle Secrest, 22 October 1980, I Tatti
9. Clark, Another Part of the Wood, p.2
10. Letter to Janet Stone, 12 August 1976, Bodleian Library
11. Cyril Connolly obituary, Tate 8812/2/2/697
12. Clark, Another Part of the Wood, p.4
13. Information supplied by the Orford Museum
14. Clark, Another Part of the Wood, p.27
15. Ibid., p.4
16. Ibid., p.11
17. Kelley (ed.), From Osborne House to Wheatfen Broad: Memoirs of Phyllis Ellis, p.37
18. Ibid.
19. Clark, Another Part of the Wood, p.14
20. Ibid.
21. Letter and memoir of Lam by Isobel Somerville to Clark, no date but around September 1975, after publication of Another Part of the Wood, Tate 8812/1/4/36–37
22. They publ
ished the first Golliwogg books in New York in 1895, which started the genre
23. Clark, Another Part of the Wood, p.7
24. Clark, ‘The Other Side of the Alde’ (unpaginated)
25. Clark, Another Part of the Wood, p.12
26. Ibid., p.13
27. Clark, ‘The Other Side of the Alde’
28. Thomas Baggs ‘Happiness’ Memorial Lecture in Birmingham, 26 October 1987, Tate 8812/2/2/373
29. Clark, ‘The Other Side of the Alde’
30. Clark, Another Part of the Wood, p.27
31. Ibid., p.43
32. Clark’s Introduction to Ruskin’s Praeterita
33. Clark, Another Part of the Wood, p.30
34. Ibid., p.33
35. Ibid.
36. Acton, Memoirs of an Aesthete, p.34
37. Clark, Another Part of the Wood, p.36
38. Interview, John Murray Archive
Chapter 3: Winchester
1. Clark, Another Part of the Wood, p.37
2. Mark Amory, Sunday Times Magazine, 6 October 1974
3. Clark, Another Part of the Wood, p.37
4. Later Sir William Keswick (1903–90)
5. Secrest, Kenneth Clark, p.39 and Mark Amory, Sunday Times Magazine, 6 October 1974. Both describe the scene with slight variations
6. Towards the end of his life Clark revealed the names of his tormentors – and two others who beat him – in a letter to Ralph Ricketts, 28 November 1974, Tate 8812/1/4/36. He would occasionally run into them later: ‘The failed artist who beat me for being a critic was called Grey and became an architect and came up before [me at] the Royal Fine Arts Commission.’
7. Clark, Another Part of the Wood, p.38
8. Letter from J.A. Aris to Clark, 23 June 1971, Tate 8812/1/4/36
Kenneth Clark Page 55