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Marcus Stone was a painter of historical and genre subjects, who was born in London on 4 July 1840 and who died in the same city on 24 March 1921. The son of Frank S. Stone, Marcus was trained by his father and inherited from him the patronage and friendship of Charles Dickens, who invited him to illustrate Our Mutual Friend (1864-5).
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Stone’s naturalistic style transferred awkwardly to engraving and he did not have the impact of his distinguished predecessors. He also illustrated for Cornhill Magazine, but found working on a small scale restrictive, so, disillusioned by Anthony Trollope’s tepid response to his designs for He Knew He Was Right (1868-9), Stone gradually abandoned illustration for a successful career as a painter. His early paintings include such subjects from military history as On the Road Waterloo (exhibited Royal Academy 1863; London Guildhall Art Gallery). Stone later specialised in themes of romantic tribulation; such pictures as “In Love” and “Il ya toujours un autre”, which was bought by the Chantry Bequest, were widely know through engravings.
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Marcus Stone exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1858, also at the Royal Institute of Painters in Oils, and many other galleries nationwide. He became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1876 and a Royal Academician in 1886. Titles at the Royal Academy include “Rejected”, “The First Love Letter” and “A Stolen Kiss”.
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Stone was amongst the first of several Victorian artists to commission a house from Richard Norman Shaw in Melbury Road, London.
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Works by the artist can be found in many museums throughout the United Kingdom.
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