Cover | Mark Stock

Bellhop, 1984 (oil on canvas). Image courtesy of Modernism Inc., San Francisco. Realist painter Mark Stock is widely recognized for his distinct butler motif, which his biographer and art historian Barnaby Conrad III characterizes as possessing a certain noir-meets-Chaplin flavor. “A master of the realist narrative style,” Conrad wrote about his friend, “Stock uses color, shadow, and line to amazing effect. Details in facial inflection, body language, and background tell you there’s more going on here than rapture, scandal, and dangerous liaisons. These paintings keep you coming back for another look, for clues to life’s emotionally charged moments.” Born in Germany in 1951 where his father was serving in the U.S. Army, Stock lived the transient childhood of an Army brat, and landed in California in 1976 and eventually made Oakland his home. He died unexpectedly in March. His work is represented by Modernism Gallery, 685 Market Street, San Francisco, which has up Mark Stock: Lives of the Butlers: Memorial Exhibition, a collection of his butler paintings, through June 21. ModernismInc.com.

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