Artistic Couples: Mary Adshead and Steven Bone

Mary Adshead (1904–1995) and Stephen Bone, (1904–1958)

We are delighted to present the first of four online exhibitions on the theme of Artistic Couples: Mary Adshead (1904–1995) and Stephen Bone (1904–1958). They were exact contemporaries, born in 1904 and both trained at the Slade under Tonks. They married in 1929 and in spite of having two sons and a daughter Adshead refused to let her career fail. More successful than her husband, through exhibitions, commissions and generating a greater income through her work, anecdotal evidence suggests she played down her success in order not to cause embarrassment. The couple travelled extensively across Britain and Europe which allowed Bone to paint outdoors in all weathers and develop a style of bright landscape painting that proved popular. Bone was also an official war artist and with his wife, he wrote and illustrated children’s books.

In the coming weeks The Artistic Couples Series will include: Charles Mahoney and Dorothy Bishop – Winifred Knights and Thomas Monnington – Victor and Catherine Moody.