This is what I know.
It was a multiepisode series of the history of Western visual art from antiquity to modern times.
It dates from 1969 and was British (BBC production?)
It was filmed in color and on location throughout Europe.
It was hosted by an aristocratic Englishman with a lisp.
I saw it about 10 years ago, and it is probably still the best overall art history series I know of…if you are going to summarize Western art in a few hours anyway. I want to know the title of the series or at least the name of the host.
The series was “Civilisation”, hosted by Kenneth Clarke. People still look back on it today as a legendary thing. The BBC website will have more somewhere. If you want to try to track on down on video, that may well be very hard, but I’m pretty sure Clarke wrote books too, if you want to try looking for them.
It sounds as though you are referring to Civilization by Kenneth Clark (then Sir Kenneth Clark IIRC, now Lord Clark).
Amazon.com has it on VHS:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/078002253X/qid=1028325272/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-3074974-6885752
He’s not “now Lord Clark” since he died nearly 20 years ago. Are you by any chance confusing him with Kenneth Clarke, Major’s Chancellor of the Exchequer?
Apparently, I am a poor judge of accents. I thought he was English.
<Whether strolling through the ruins of Roman civilization, well-preserved Gothic cathedrals of Europe, or the streets of 1960s-era New York City, Clark is equally comfortable dispensing his vast perspective of the arts as they relate to the advancement of Western culture, as well as a dollop or two of dry Scottish humor. >
Thank you anyway. I probably cannot afford it all, but I’ll check a library or university for a copy.
No, you were right cuate, that’s not a Scottish accent. Most Scottish aristos speak with “Queen’s English” accent. However I’m not sure how Scottish Clark was seen as being, by himself or others. The family own land in Scotland, but probably spent more time in England. Certainly his son Alan made no claim to be Scottish in his published diaries.