Marcus Stone was an illustrator and painter who was active in the latter part of the 19th Century.
Stone was trained by his father, Frank Stone, who had been a noted illustrator was a friend and companion of Charles Dickens (and antagonist of the Pre-Raphaelite painters).
Marcus Stone was exhibiting at the Royal Academy at the age of eighteen, and was illustrating books by Dickens and other noted authors a few years later.
After finding himself frustrated with the restraints of illustration and reproduction techniques of the time, he transitioned into gallery paintings. He was elected to the Royal Academy as an associate and later as an academician, and was the recipient of awards and praise from the artistic establishment.
He focused at first on history painting and later specialized in scenes of romantic drama, often set in lush formal gardens.
His later work shows a brighter and more painterly approach, as the influence of the new styles of painting spread through Europe and the UK.
Very impressive use of colour and I like the way he often tells astory.
Thanks for the comment, Phillip.
Other readers who are interested in Victorian painting should check out Phillip’s blog, Victorian / Edwardian Paintings.
Some of his Dickens illustrations appear here:
http://dickens.ucsc.edu/OMF/illustrations.html
I love rich and deep the backgrounds are in his paintings. I like how he isolates the focus of his characters and tells a story that invites interest.
Beautiful and delicate paintings…
They tell us stories about old times…
I have inherited a print, from my grandmother of “A Passing Cloud”. I cannot find very much information about the original. Anyone got any thoughts?
I have an old print? picture by Marcus Stone RA entitled The Peacemaker but seen the same picture in colour entitled A Difference of Opinion.
I would like to know when original was produced, if possible.