Frank Stone (22 August 1800 – 18 November 1859) was an English painter. He was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, and was entirely

self-taught Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individu ...

Career

He was elected an Associate of the Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1833 and Member in 1843; and an

Associate of the Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

in 1851. The works he first exhibited at the Academy were portraits, but from 1840 onwards he contributed figure pictures, scenes from

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, scripture and sentimental subjects, many of which were engraved. In 1850 he led the opposition within the Academy to the innovations of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, having already criticised their work in the previous year.Jorge L. Contreras, Frank Stone and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
/ref> When

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...

wrote a very critical review of Stone's work in return, Stone launched an outright assault on Pre-Raphaelitism, initiating the controversy that engulfed the movement. Leading Pre-Raphaelite

William Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolis ...

later depicted a print of one of Stone's works in the background of his painting ''

The Awakening Conscience ''The Awakening Conscience'' (1853) is an oil-on-canvas painting by the English artist William Holman Hunt, one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which depicts a woman rising from her position in the lap of a man and gazing trans ...

''. It has been suggested that this was intended as an insult, since the furniture of the room was supposed to represent the bad taste of the characters depicted. Grave of Frank Stone in Highgate Cemetery

Grave of Frank Stone in Highgate Cemetery

According to

William Powell Frith William Powell Frith (9 January 1819 – 2 November 1909) was an English painter specialising in genre subjects and panoramic narrative works of life in the Victorian era. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1853, presenting ''The Sleep ...

, Stone was a loyal friend, but very argumentative, "No fair-weather friend was he, but true as steel when friendly countenance might be sorely needed. Still, I confess there were drawbacks to the enjoyment of Stone's society. It was enough for anyone to advance an opinion for Stone to differ from it." He was the father of the painter

Marcus Stone Marcus Stone (4 July 1840 – 24 March 1921) was an English painter. Stone was born in London, and was educated at the Royal Academy. Life Marcus Clayton Stone was the son of Frank Stone ARA. Marcus was trained by his father and began to ...

who illustrated many works by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

(the Stones were Dickens' neighbours for many years) and himself produced a frontispiece for an edition of ''

Martin Chuzzlewit ''The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit'' (commonly known as ''Martin Chuzzlewit'') is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between 1842 and 1844. While he was writing it ...

''. He also had a daughter, Ellen Stone. Stone died on 18 November 1859, and was buried six days later on the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

. The inscription on his grave (plot no.9947) has largely worn away.

Gallery

File:Frank Stone - The Proposal.jpg, Frank Stone - The Proposal - Victorian Era Painting File:Frank Stone - Stone-93249 - Rogers, Norton and Phipps.jpg, Frank Stone Drawing File:Frank Stone (1800-1859) - William Makepeace Thackeray - NPG 4210 - National Portrait Gallery.jpg, William Makepeace Thackeray by Frank Stone (1800–1859) File:Samuel Rogers by Frank Stone.jpg, Samuel Rogers by Frank Stone File:Caroline Norton by Frank Stone.jpg, Caroline Norton by Frank Stone File:British museum print.png, Victorian Couple Playing Chess by Frank Stone (engraving) at the British Museum File:"Mated" by Frank Stone (1800–1859).jpg, "Mated" by Frank Stone

References

External links

*
Illustrated list of portraits by Frank Stone at the National Portrait Gallery

* Engraving by John Henry Robinson of a painting 'Donna Julia' with a poetical illustration by

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...

in Heath’s Book of Beauty, 1833. * Engraving by H. Cook of a painting with a poetical illustration by

in Heath’s Book of Beauty, 1833. * Engraving by James Thomson of a painting with a poetical illustration by

in Heath’s Book of Beauty, 1833. * An engraving by R. H. Dyer of in Finden’s Gallery of the Graces, 1834, with a poetical illustration by

. * An engraving by Charles George Lewis of in Finden’s Gallery of the Graces, 1834, with a poetical illustration by

. * Engraving by William Greatbach of a painting in The Amulet, 1836 with a poetical illustration by

. * A poetical illustration by

to the painting in Forget Me Not, 1836. * An engraving by C E Wagstaff in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1836 of the painting with a poetical illustration by

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Frank 1800 births 1859 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters Artists from Manchester Associates of the Royal Academy Burials at Highgate Cemetery 19th-century English male artists