July 13, 1903

Kenneth Clark (July 13, 1903 to May 21 1983) came from a wealthy British background and studied art history at Oxford. His work as an art historian and association with various museums and universities led to his reciving an KCB in 1938 and assorted other titles in his lifetime. The two volume set, Catalogue of the Drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci in the Collection of H.M. the King at Windsor Castle (1935) was an early work. He received international prominence with his writing and presentation of the series Civilization for the BBC (1969).

Among his later works is Animals and Men: Their Relationship as Reflected in Western Art from Prehistory to the Present Day (1977). In this book Sir Kenneth wondered why:

"so few cats were lovingly depicted in Western art when they did inspire good poetry." Dogs present a counter situation-- The canvases contain many wonderfully rendered dogs, but the poetry about dogs is less classic--- thus the word 'doggerel' for bad poetry.