Lot Essay
Stock is a relatively unknown but highly individual artist who was an exponent of the English Romantic tradition. He enjoyed success as a society portrait painter, but his main area of interest was always highly-imaginative subjects. Stock's visual sources were equally diverse. There are passages in his work which suggest that he looked at the Pre-Raphaelites and C.H. Shannon (1863-1937), but the greatest influences on him were William Blake and G.F. Watts, in both his subject matter and sublime imagery.