Kenneth Clark's Magnificent "Civilisation" and Its Desecration

Kenneth Clark (1903-1983) was an eminent, British art historian and museum curator. His most well-known work is the landmark documentary series Civilisation that was aired on the BBC in 1969. He sub-titled the documentary - and the companion book that followed - as "A Personal View." His concentration is on the visual arts that was his forte. He also emphasizes the deep connection between art and religion during most of the time-frame covered in the book and documentary. 

Kenneth Clark at Notre Dame

By "civilisation" Clark is referring to Western Europe from the fall of Rome to the end of the nineteenth century. His justified focus is on the heart of Western Civilization that can be located in a five hundred mile radius centered on Paris. He begins with early Celtic Christian art, but quickly moves on to the Carolingian Renaissance of Charlemagne. The photography is spectacular. With fine period music in the background, the camera lingers over masterpieces for the edification of the viewer. 

Bust of Charlemagne

Civilisation is a fascinating work by a man who deeply loved and cared about Western art and culture. He was fortunate to have been educated before cultural/moral relativism and self-loathing had become the West's official state religion. (The nihilistic "art" of the present will never compare to even the most mediocre of church art from the Middle Ages.)  The entire thirteen part series is available on YouTube. Hopefully, you will have time to watch it before it is declared thoughtcrime and taken down. 

Clark makes no apologies for his belief in the obvious superiority of Western Civilization to all other cultures. In the book's introductory chapter he compares a Greek statue to an African mask,

Whatever its merits as a work of art, I don't think there is any doubt that the Apollo embodies a higher state of civilisation than the mask. They both represent spirits, messengers from another world - that is to say, from a world of our own imagining ... But, all the same, the contrast between these images means something. It means that at certain epochs man has felt conscious of something about himself - body and spirit - which was outside the day-to-day struggle for existence and the night-to-night struggle with fear; and he has felt the need to develop these qualities of thought and feeling so that they might approach as nearly as possible to an ideal of perfection - reason, justice, physical beauty, all of them in equilibrium. (pp. 2-3)

He judges that such a mentality requires - among other things - cultural confidence. 

But, by far, it requires confidence - confidence in the society in which one lives, belief in its philosophy, belief in its laws, and confidence in one's own mental powers. (p. 4)

Obviously, none of the above will do for those that now occupy the West's commanding heights. The avowed mission of the West's "intellectuals" is to destroy such confidence. If you think that this is an exaggeration, then look no further than the BBC's recent production of Civilisations. What a difference a letter makes. In this "update" of the classic, three trendy academics (not one an art historian) commit cultural vandalism in order to eradicate the ability of their viewers to have any confidence in or love for their forebears' accomplishments.

One of the three vandals is the BBC's darling Mary Beard. She is best known for attempting to rewrite the history of Roman Britain in order to make it less white. The purpose of this latest work isn't any different. "Putting an 's' on the end of 'civilisation' is only the first, and easiest, step in wondering how we can make the very idea of civilisation less exclusively white, European and male." As with most cultural Marxist critiques, it all boils down to "too many white people." As is her usual song-and-dance routine, Beard whines about how dead white males used up all the culture and scholarship and left none for the ladies. Ironically, in order to play the victim, she must airbrush such scholars as Edith Hamilton and Eileen Power out of existence.  

PBS is now airing the nihilists' answer to Civilisation. The first three episodes of what should be called anti-Civilisation are now available online. The first one-and-a-half episodes are not too horrible. (Although, its very brief depiction of the art being discussed is a favor to the viewer regarding the modern rubbish that litters the presentation.) The series contains the expected jibes at the West, odes to multiculturalism and worship of primitive art. It's not until the middle of the second episode that it really goes off the rails.  At around the thirty minute mark, the narrator finds it necessary to scold the Greeks for their "obsession" with the beauty of the human body - during this sequence the background "music" is heavy and malevolent in case the narration isn't sufficiently overbearing. It goes downhill from there. 

The pretentious garbage of "Civilisations" has only one value: it illustrates the degenerate nature of our so-called intellectual elites. Watching three episodes of this dreck is my absolute limit. But, by all means, take the time to watch Clark's masterpiece. One can quibble with some of his choices. Those choices are part of the "personal view" he presents. It's the acquired lifetime of wisdom and knowledge and judgement that is desperately needed in our present day.