The Kenneth Clark Prize for Art History Presentation
Art history, Winchester College and Kenneth Clark (1903-1983) are linked through the Kenneth Clark Prize, competed for by all boys in the sixth form, and established in 2005 in his memory.
Who was Kenneth Clark? His name has gradually slipped from the national consciousness, but he was a colossus of the Arts in the 20th century. After Winchester (B, 1917-1922), then Oxford, where he read history, Clark’s significant appointments began at the Ashmolean, where he was made Keeper of Fine Art. Here he revitalised the display of the collection; a role that prepared him, at the frighteningly young age of 30, for the directorship of the National Gallery, an institution that he led with authority and vision through the difficult years of the war.
Clark would sit on hundreds of committees in the course of a long and distinguished career, but his name would reach snowy heights of international fame with the broadcasting of Civilisation in 1969, a 13-part television series for BBC in which Clark sets out a personal view of the history of western civilisation. Though there were critics even at the time (notably John Berger) of the narrowness of Clark’s western-centric focus, his ability to communicate a love of art, architecture and music set a standard that later presenters have tried – and often failed – to emulate.
In the spirit of Clark’s communication skills, each year boys in the sixth form choose a work of art, a building or a film, and present on it for ten minutes to their Div group. Judged by their peers, the winners then go forward to a semi-final, from which a panel of staff select five or six to progress to a final, this year on the 19th March.
The adjudicator, every year a prominent art historian in his or her field, will this year be Dr. James Fox of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, who combines a distinguished academic career with one as a television broadcaster.
Such has been the success of the Kenneth Clark Prize, it has led to the foundation of ARTiculation, a national competition run by the Roche Court Educational Trust. Over 2,000 young people aged 16-19 compete, based very much on the model of the Winchester Kenneth Clark prize.
Kenneth Clark, himself a populist, someone who believed that art should be for all, would, one hopes, have been pleased by this aspect of his legacy.
To register to listen to this year’s Kenneth Clark Prize on 19th March at 1900 via video link please contact the Winchester College Society.
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