Dorothy Stoner

Dorothy Kate Stoner (1904–92), artist and teacher, was born in Sussex and arrived in Tasmania in 1921. She studied at the Hobart Technical College under Lucien Dechaineux and Mildred Lovett, 1925–29, and taught at the Launceston (1936–39) and Hobart (1940–64) Technical Colleges, with further studies in Melbourne (1939), London and Paris (1949–50) and Sydney (1961, 1966). Stoner used paint, pastel and pencil to create powerful figure drawings, portraits and landscapes. Living in Tasmania had an important influence on her work. Landscape views, such as her garden at Lindisfarne, the bush at Natone Hill, Mount Wellington and the River Derwent, were important subjects in which she displayed a strong use of rich colour, structures and form. Stoner held solo exhibitions in Melbourne, Sydney, Devonport, Richmond and Hobart, 1967–87.

Further reading: H Kolenberg, Edith Holmes, Dorothy Stoner, Hobart, 1983.

Sue Backhouse