1904–1992

Dorothy Stoner was an artist and art teacher who migrated from England to Tasmania in 1921. She began her studies at Hobart Technical College in 1925, later returning as a teacher. Over the course of her career, she studied under leading artists including Lucien Dechaineux, George Bell, John Passmore, and Dorothy Thornhill, and worked across Hobart, Melbourne, and Sydney.

Stoner went on to teach at the Hobart School of Art, was an active member of the Art Society of Tasmania, and was a founding member of the Contemporary Art Society of Australia. Despite her long-standing involvement in the Australian art world, her first commercial exhibition was not held until 1967, when she was 63 years old.

"When I am not painting, I feel like a shadow. Painting makes life real and gives life body." Dorothy Stoner

Primarily a painter, Stoner worked with oils, pastel, and pencil to create powerful figure studies, portraits, still lifes and landscapes. Her years in Tasmania left a lasting influence, with the surrounding vistas and landscapes inspiring compositions marked by tonally-rich compositions colour, displaying a bold and expressive approach with confident control of form and structure. While she is best known for her vibrantly coloured modernist still lifes and portraits, her practice also extended into printmaking and drawing, reflecting both versatility and depth.

Her works are represented in the collections of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, the University of Tasmania, and the Queen Victoria Art Gallery.

For a more in-depth biography of this artist, click here.