Art History: Sir Kenneth Clarke's Civilization Series

The landmark 13-part 1969 BBC series Civilisation by Sir Kenneth Clarke was one of the very first attempts to deliver a comprehensive examination of Western Art and Cultural History to a mass audience for television. Wildly influential, undeniably dated, occasionally infuriating and visually sumptuous -- it was shot in 35mm film-- Civilisation remains an ideal entry point and revision lesson for anyone interested in the broader points of Western Culture and Art History in particular. Episodes are 60 minutes long. 

January 17 - Episode 1: The Skin Of Our Teeth

Dir: Michael Gill. Sir Kenneth Clarke starts his epic documentary series by showing how European Art and Thought, driven to the margins of the continent, survived the six centuries after the Fall of Rome.

January 24 - Episode 2: The Great Thaw

Dir. Peter Montagnon. Lord Clarke traces Europe's re-awakening through the 12th Century Abbey of Cluny to the building of the Charles Cathedral.

January 31 - Episode 3: Romance and Reality

Dir: Michael Gill. Gothicism, Courtly Love, St. Francis, Dante and Giotto exemplify the expansive mood of the late Middle Ages.

February 7 - Episode 4: Man, The Measure of All Things

Dir. Ann Turner. The rise of the Renaissance in Florence, Urbino and Mantua, and the breakthrough of perspective in painting. 

February 14 - Episode 5: The Hero As Artist

Dir. Michael Gill. An examinationo how Pope Julius II sponsored men like Michelangelo and Raphael during the heights of the Early Renaissance.

February 21 - Episode 6: Protest and Communication

Dir. Peter Montagnon. The impact of the Reformation, with references to Erasmus, Holbein, Dürer, Montaigne and Shakespeare.

February 28 - Episode 7: Grandeur and Obedience

Dir. Peter Montagnon. The Counter-Reformation based from Rome and the work of Bernini and Michaelangelo.

March 20 - Episode 8: The Light of Experience

Dir. Michael Gill. The work of Rembrandt, Descartes, Vermeer and Sir Christopher Wren. 

March 27 - Episode 9: The Pursuit of Happiness

Dir. Peter Montagnon. 18th Century music, from Bach and Handel to Hayden and Mozart; Baroque and Rococo visual styles are also examined.

April 3 - Episode 10: The Smile of Reason

Dir. Michael Gill. The Enlightenment: England, Scotland and the USA through Jefferson and Washington.

April 10 - Episode 11: The Worship of Nature

Dir. Montagnon and Turner. 18th Century England turns from religion to a renewed belief in Nature as the Industrial Revolution gains force.

April 17 - Episode 12: The Fallacies Of Hope

Dir. Michael Gill. The Romantic movement through the music of Beethoven and the poetry of Byron

April 24 - Episode 13: Heroic Materialism

Dir. Michael Gill. The last episode anticipates modernism through events such as the abolition of slavery while referencing the new humanism of Tolstoy, Courbet and Millet.