Marcus C. Stone

Marcus Stone, R.A. (1840-1921) 'My Lady is a Widow and Childless' 'Tis better to be lowly born, and range with humble livers in content, than to be perk'd up in a glistering grief, and wear a golden sorrow' William Shakespeare, The Life of King Henry VIII, act II, scene 3. signed 'MARCUS STONE.' (lower left) oil on canvas 21 7/8 x 14½ in. (55.6 x 36.8 cm.) Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 10 March 1933, lot 83, as 'A Happy Family' (10 gns to Paris). Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 21 March 1990, lot 218. with The Fine Art Society, London, until 1993. The Forbes Collection; Christie's, London, 19 February 2003, lot 259. Chichester, The Bishop's Palace, All for Love, 1994, no. 40. This picture, a smaller version of one of Stone's masterpieces with the same name, is conceived as a celebration of the joys of family life. A humble labourer, employed in digging a trench beside a wall, is interrupted in his task by the arrival of his family who bring him lunch. Though 'lowly born', as the attendant quotation from one of Shakespeare's more obscure plays implies, they are happy, united in their love, and 'content'. The contrast with the widow, observing them from behind the garden wall which forms a barrier between them, is marked. Her gabled mansion can be seen behind her, but the emotional barrenness of her life is emphasised by the dead tree above her head, and the unkempt nature of her garden. The finished picture (sold in these Rooms, 19 February 2003, lot 14) delighted the critics. Baldry (op. cit.) noted that 'indeed it is one of his best paintings'. The Art Journal commented: 'At a time when too many of our painters are timidly witholding from new experiment, it is a pleasure to find an artist of Marcus Stone's reputation so boldly enlarging the scope of his labours. The historic gives way to the idyllic, and in place of some domestic incident in the life of a Tudor king, enriched with the resources of learned and accurate research, Mr Stone has found an opportunity of graceful design in a simple study of rustic life'. Another (slightly larger) version of the final picture, measuring 110 x 74 cm., is in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.

Marcus Stone, RA (British, 1840-1921) In the shade signed and dated 'Marcus Stone 1879' (lower left) and inscribed with title and artist's address on the stretcher oil on canvas 33 x 48 1/2in (83 x 124cm) LITERATURE: The Strand Magazine, Pictures Grave and Gay , August 1907, no. 200, vol. 34, p 129, illustrated p. 125. M. Cowling, Victorian Figurative Painting: Domestic Life and the Contemporary Social Scene , Papadakis Publishers, London, 2000, p 70. The present picture depicts a corner of a lovely old garden; after tea a young couple has wandered off, leaving a pretty maiden alone and 'in the shade'. In the Strand Magazine article Pictures Grave and Gay , the artist Marcus Stone commented that this painting was suggested by a late afternoon effect in his own garden, and said that "the background is more or less a true version of a portion of my house and garden as it was more than a quarter of a century ago - in no other case have I painted an actual scene in any of my pictures".

Lot 255 Marcus Stone (British, 1840-1921) A Lovers' Spat Signed "MARCUS STONE" l.l., inscribed "6432/R.A. 1884" on the reverse, with a label from The Pantechnicon, Helgrave Square, London, on the stretcher. Oil on canvas, 30 1/4 x 13 5/8 in. (76.8 x 34.6 cm), framed. Condition: Lined, scattered retouch, stable craquelure. Estimate $3,000-5,000

Measurements note 41 by 31 cm.; 16 by 12 ¼ in. signed and dated l.r.: MARCUS STONE/ 1883 oil on canvas PROVENANCE The Cooling Galleries, London CATALOGUE NOTE This is a smaller version of or study for An Offer of Marriage,which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1883. The finishedpainting is a taller composition, showing more of the steps down toa lake and taller trees. The painting was conceived as a pendant toIl y en a toujours un Autre (A Prior Attachment) of 1882.

1840-1921 REST MEASUREMENTS measurements note 71 by 92 cm., 28 by 36 in. DESCRIPTION signed and dated u.l.: MARCUS STONE/ 1858 oil on canvas EXHIBITED Royal Academy, 1858, no. 601 CATALOGUE NOTE 'This early work was called 'Rest,' and had for subject a knightin armour lying under a tree. It could hardly be described as inany sense a reflection of his father's [the painter Frank Stone]manner, and was rather a piece of preliminary evidence of theintention of the young artist to carve out a way for himself in Artand to prove his own independence.' (Alfred Lys Baldry, MarcusStone, R.A., special number of Art Annual, 1896, pg. 9). Rest was Marcus Stone's first exhibit at the Royal Academy,where it was accompanied by lines 83-96 from Oliver Goldsmith's TheDeserted Village:In all my wanderings round this world of care,In all my griefs and God has given my shareI still had hopes my latest hours to crown,Amidst these humble bowers to lay me down;To husband out life's taper at the closeAnd keep the flame from wasting by repose.I still had hopes, for pride attends us still,Amidst the swains to show my book-learned skill,Around my fire an evening group to draw,And tell of all I felt and all I saw;And, as a hare, whom hounds and horns pursue,Pants to the place from whence at first she flew,I still had hopes, my long vexations past,Here to return and die at home at last.