Civilisation

There have been many fine video lecture series by prominent cultural figures, from Joseph Campbell to Robert Hughes, but for me, the finest is still the first, Kenneth Clark's landmark, "Civilization, A Personal View". The sub-title is important, for Clark's survey of western civilization through its art and architecture is certainly opinionated. And this gives the series a wonderful intimacy that previous televised surveys never approached.

Not only is there a wealth of information and insight in this beautiful production, but there is Kenneth Clark himself. A scholar of culture and art, admirer of Ruskin and student of Bernard Berenson, he was director of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the National Galley in London, as well as pioneering arts commentator for radio and television in the UK. Kenneth, Lord Clark, raised to the peerage for his achievements, is perhaps the greatest impresario of art of the 20th century.

"Civilization, a Personal View" has been criticized by some art critics as being a bit "facile". I disagree. Clark's argumentation is always reasoned, never arbitrary. It certainly is facile for pop commentators to repeat the old tourist-pleasing but phony assertion that Michelangelo designed and built St. Peter's dome. It is Clark who points out that St. Peter's dome is the work of Giacomo della Porta, not Michelangelo. Is it facile for Clark to confess that when he was young he scorned Frans Hals out of snobbery, but later, "as I grew older," began to appreciate Hals's "convivial" figures? Facile indeed. Everything Clark says carries weight.

Aside from questions about Clark's personal views - he ends Civilization at the beginning of the modern era, not because he ran out of film but because he didn't care for modernism - it cannot be denied that he delivers them in such a lucid, congenial and engaging manner, that only the pedantic and churlish could fail to be delighted with a dapper, eloquent, beautifully spoken gentleman's tour through western history. Where else do pronunciations like caPITalism and usages such as "lie of the land" sound so wonderful than from the lips of this erudite Scotsman?

"And please allow me two minute's digression on the subject of tulips." I love it!

Clark's series is by far the best televised course in Western Civilization ever created. I doubt if it will ever be surpassed. There are two men I dearly miss having met before they died - Joseph Campbell and Kenneth Clark. Upon meeting Clark in "Civilization, a Personal View," I think you'll understand why.

Yes opiniated, yes patrician, but also an enlightening, exceptional documentary series. Nothing else I've seen on the BBC can match it (though I enjoyed The Ascent of Man very much). A profoundly intelligent look at Western 'Art' History covering music, painting, architecture, sculpture, writing (poetry, drama, prose, philosophy) and celebrating the astonishing achievements of individuals. "There they are, you can't dismiss them". Quite.

First broadcast in 1969,Civilization was produced not only to showcase the new medium of color television but also to reassure a then turbulent society of its established roots.

Before viewing Civilization I had never heard of Kenneth Clark, or K Clark as he was known to his contemporaries. At first glance he appears to be the product of a stodgy old order, a stereotypical brown flannel suit poised very uneasily in the Age of Aquarius. However his soft demeanor, articulate observations and frank but reasonable opinions quickly become very endearing qualities. I soon found myself very disappointed I had never met the man, or at least lived through his era.

I can say with confidence that if you seriously enjoy history, particularly the European variety, you will enjoy Civilization. Even if you don't, the stunning and intimate portrayal of 1500 years of art may still be captivating enough to hold your attention. This program is unlike anything broadcast in the post-MTV era, and it sets a standard of culture and erudition that puts networks which should know better, like the History Channel, to shame.

I was a young man in my impressionable early-20s, when Kenneth Clark's "Civilisation" made its appearance on American television. I recall, at the time, thinking what ambition to entitle a program so. Public Broadcasting had not been around for many years, and I expected a stodgy, pompous, supercilious approach to the subject of art and civilization, especially as it was coming from Britain. Surely, this was a program for the elite, the snobs of the art world, the aristocrats of Europe who had access to such treasures. Kenneth Clark truly changed those first impressions, presenting in a gentle, understandable way some of the great treasures of the human species. These pieces were no longer remote, mysterious objects stuffed away in some dusty museum or moldering palace. He clearly taught about each of his choices, seeming to enjoy the opportunity to pass on to the viewer his love and admiration for these works and their meaning, as they related to the modern world and to the world long past in which they were created. He was humorous and wise, and the photography was stunning. I immediately changed my major in college to art history and, although I never became wealthy from the education, I have always appreciated what I did learn, beginning with the inspiration provided by Kenneth Clark and "Civilisation." Mr. Clark became one of those people with whom I wish I could have spent an afternoon, just listening. I haven't seen the program in many years, though it was re-run often after its first showing. I would like to see this back on television, or on DVD. I do believe it was the inspiration for many similar, and more famous programs to follow and was part of that exceptional time in television when the UK sent us its best - "Civilisation", "The First Churchills", "The Six Wives of Henry VIII", "Elizabeth R", and "I, Claudius."

If "Civilisation" ever reappears, do yourself a favor. Sit back in an easy chair, tone down the distractions, have a good hot coffee, and enjoy the story of your past. It's shared by all of us, and Kenneth Clark will introduce you to yourself.

A documentary covering the history of western civilisation from the Dark Ages to the mid 20th Century, "Civilisation" is a wide-ranging glimpse at the story of Western culture primarily through art. Art historian Kenneth Clark presents and writes in this BBC produced television series which first aired in 1969 in 13 episodes. Dapper, articulate and self assured, Clark narrates with learned interest the shifting and storied saga of European art and its influence. With footage of picturesque scenery, historic edifices, mostly famous art work and stirring Classical Music as a soundtrack the series is a pretty panoramic scope on why Western civilisation has been the foremost in the world up to the present. Whether discussing Michelangelo, Raphael, Da Vinci and the turbulent times and artistic opulence of the Italian Renaissance; Voltaire, Rousseau and the age of reason in the Enlightenment; the retreat back to nature and the resurrection of the divine in the Romantic era as artistic titans like Byron and Beethoven brought back the soul in man; and the advent of science and business in the modern era which the Industrial Revolution started bringing with them unprecedented wealth, luxury and power together with unprecedented depths of poverty and squalor.

For a documentary that calls itself "Civilisation" the film is surprisingly disappointing in its gap-filled state. One would think that one of the first obvious acts Clark would have done would be to include an episode on Greco-Roman civilization being the origins of the subject at hand. Strangely there isn't one and Clark mentions it only in patches here and there throughout the series. Topics outside of art are also focused on like literature, music and science so it's strange that there's no mention of groundbreaking inventions like the camera, aeroplane, automobile and the computer which are among the West's greatest and most distinct contributions to civilization and world history. The series differs from modern documentaries by eschewing the commonplace standard of interviewing numerous experts and personalities related to the topic at hand in favor of Clark solitarily carrying the entire documentary on his own. While this tones the film to a quiet, stately presentation of languid and glacial grace the energy, liveliness and vivacious pace of contemporary documentaries that modern viewers are used to will be sorely missed and can devalue the work to a tedious and agonizing slow crawl of a bore.

One of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful documentaries, spawning other hit TV series of its kind, "Civilisation" was a gateway to the masses on the value and aesthetics of art and its importance and relevance. Colorful and informative, "Civilisation" may well prove the fighting and perhaps irrefutable paradigm on why "The West is the best".