What Is a Masterpiece?

by Kenneth M. Clark

Rejecting the tenet of modern art asserting that masterpieces do not exist, Clark explores those qualities which combine with the indefinable touch of genius to produce a work of art that truly represents the human spirit

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Kenneth Mackenzie Clark was a British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster. After running two important art galleries in the 1930s and 1940s, he came to wider public notice on television, presenting a succession of programmes on the arts during the 1950s and 1960s, culminating in the Civilisation series in 1969. The son of rich parents, Clark was introduced to the arts at an early age. Among his early influences were the writings of John Ruskin, which instilled in him the belief that everyone should have access to great art. After coming under the influence of the connoisseur and dealer Bernard Berenson, Clark was appointed director of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford aged twenty-seven, and three years later he was put in charge of Britain's National Gallery. His twelve years there saw the gallery transformed to make it accessible and inviting to a wider public. During the Second World War, when the collection was moved from London for safe keeping, Clark made the building available for a series of daily concerts which proved a celebrated morale booster during the Blitz.

After the war, and three years as Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford, Clark surprised many by accepting the chairmanship of the UK's first commercial television network. Once the service had been successfully launched he agreed to write and present programmes about the arts. These established him as a household name in Britain, and he was asked to create the first colour series about the arts, Civilisation, first broadcast in 1969 in Britain and in many other countries soon afterwards.

Among many honours, Clark was knighted at the unusually young age of thirty-five, and three decades later was made a life peer shortly before the first transmission of Civilisation. Three decades after his death, Clark was celebrated in an exhibition at Tate Britain in London, prompting a reappraisal of his career by a new generation of critics and historians. Opinions varied about his aesthetic judgment, particularly in attributing paintings to old masters, but his skill as a writer and his enthusiasm for popularising the arts were widely recognised. Both the BBC and the Tate described him in retrospect as one of the most influential figures in British art of the twentieth century.

Reviews

[Tuana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh to be reminded of these art pieces again.. “…a masterpiece will be the creation of his own genius.” I very much believe there to be meaning behind art. Yes, we are in an age where it is made to be consumed but in its actuality, it’s core, the meaning is not lost. Seeing The Night Watch by Rembrandt mentioned really took me back to the time I was in Rotterdam experiencing this piece of art infront of me. The presence of the painting was something else as well as looking at it in ful scale and it’s weight in history. Art is made for the artist first, the raw expression of their experience, their soul. Today’s age consumerism often distorts artistic intent and what we call ‘masterpiece’, yes. But the meaning itself is never lost. If a work of art makes you feel something, it has fulfilled its purpose. It doesn’t need labels in my opinion. At the end of the day how we see art is up to us.

[Juan Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

All artists want to accomplish its own masterpiece. However, most disagreed about what exactly is a masterpiece. Clark in this lecture transformed into a book brings clarity through art history about the intrinsic qualities of a masterpiece. Of course, he is not objective despite his promise in the prologue. Nevertheless, his focus helps those looking for a transcendent meaning in art. I do like to read it to breath amidst the commerce art has become

[Charles Comer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful essay that attempts (successfully in my opinion) to answer the question, "What is a Masterpiece?" Of course, in doing so it suggests (truly in my opinion) that such a thing exists to begin with. And these are notions that are unfortunately out of vogue in our current cultural milieu. I found that through my several readings of this I was able to see artwork in richer way. I also found that the Clark's ideas are applicable to many other artifacts of our culture.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

"What is a Masterpiece?" is the transcription of a lecture given by one of the twentieth-century’s foremost experts on art. It can be read in a few minutes, and it very succinctly and clearly presents an answer to the question posed by the title.