Two's Company, Three's None

Marcus Stone R.A. 1840 - 1921

Summary

Narrative scene depicting two young lovers in a garden. In the centre of the composition, a young man and woman sit together on wooden chairs in front of a large stone pedestal surrounded by potted plants and surmounted by an urn. The man sits astride his chair, resting his chin in his hand whilst draping the other over the back of the chair; he is depicted in late eighteenth or early nineteenth dress, wearing a bicorn hat, breeches, a tailcoat, cravat and gloves. The woman sits sideways on her chair with her legs crossed, resting her feet on a stool and turning her head away from the man to face the viewer; she has one arm hung over the back of her chair and holds a fan in the other hand. Behind her is a basket on the ground in which she has been gathering apples. To the left and in the background of the composition, another young woman stands alone with a basket of flowers beside a tree around the base of which a table has been built; she turns to glance over her shoulder towards the couple. In the background is an extensive lawn bordered by a tall hedge and wall of trees beyond.

Display Label

Two's Company, Three's None around 1892 Marcus Stone 1840 - 1921 Oil on panel Stone produced so many nostalgic images of Jane Austenish lovers that they became subject of mockery. One Royal Academy exhibition review read: 'If Mr Stone were as weary as we are of that still unwedded pair of lovers whom he has so often painted in that garden they never leave, his friends would subscribe money enough to start the young persons in real life, so that they might be married and have done with it.' In fact, Stone's paintings made very popular prints and sales of these made him a wealthy man. James Blair Bequest 1917.196