Editing Kenneth Clark (section)

===Broadcasting: ITV, 1957–1966===
[[File:Rembrandt Self-portrait (Kenwood).jpg|thumb|[[Rembrandt]], the last of Clark's ''Five Revolutionary Painters'' series (1960)]]
Clark's first series for ATV, ''Is Art Necessary?'', began in 1958.<ref>"Sir Kenneth Clark", ''The Observer'', 30 March 1958, p. 3</ref> Both he and television were finding their way, and programmes in the series ranged from the stiff and studio-bound to a film in which Clark and Henry Moore toured the British Museum at night, flashing their torches at the exhibits.<ref>"The Spotlight on Statuary: Museum at midnight", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 18 March 1958, p. 7; and Stourton, pp. 282–283</ref> When the series came to an end in 1959, Clark and the production team reviewed and refined their techniques for the next series, ''Five Revolutionary Painters'', which attracted a considerable audience.<ref name=s284>Stourton, pp. 284–285</ref> The [[British Film Institute]] observes:
{{blockquote|With the television camera strolling among the paintings (by [[Francisco Goya|Goya]], [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder|Breughel]], [[Caravaggio]], [[Vincent van Gogh|Van Gogh]] and [[Rembrandt]]) and the urbane, confident Clark conveying his tremendous knowledge in exceptionally clear English, the viewer was treated to the essence of what the painter saw in his creation (not an easy task in the era of black and white television).<ref name=bfi>Vahimagi, Tise. [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/549769/index.html "Clark, Sir Kenneth (1903–1983)"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108021535/http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/549769/index.html |date=8 November 2012 }}, British Film Institute, retrieved 22 June 2017</ref>|}}

By the time in 1960 when he presented a programme about [[Pablo Picasso|Picasso]], Clark had further honed his presentational skills and came across as relaxed as well as authoritative.<ref name=s284/> Two series on architecture followed, culminating in a programme called ''The Royal Palaces of Britain'' in 1966, a joint venture by ITV and the BBC, described as "by far the most important heritage programme shown on British television to date".<ref name=s288/> ''[[The Guardian]]'' described Clark as "the ideal man for the job – scholarly, courtly and gently ironical".<ref>Grigg, John. "Beyond the balcony", ''The Guardian'', 29 December 1966, p. 12</ref> ''The Royal Palaces'', unlike its predecessors, was shot on 35mm colour film, but transmission was still in black and white, at which Clark chafed. The BBC was by this time planning to broadcast in colour, and his renewed contact with the corporation for this film paved the way for his eventual return to its schedules.<ref name=s288>Stourton, pp. 288–289</ref> In the interim he remained with ITV for a 1966 series, ''Three Faces of France'', featuring the works of [[Gustave Courbet|Courbet]], [[Édouard Manet|Manet]] and [[Edgar Degas|Degas]].<ref>"A Little Learning is an Entertaining Thing", ''The Times'', 23 April 1966, p. 7</ref>