James Stark was an English painter. His father, Michael Stark, was a Scottish dyer who had settled in Norwich. James Stark first exhibited in Norwich in 1809 and in London in 1811. In 1811 he became articled to John Crome before moving to London in 1814; there he met William Collins, who became a friend and influenced his work. His first success came when the Dean of Windsor, the Hon. Edward Legge, bought his picture The Bathing Place, Morning (exh. London, British Institution, 1815; untraced). Later patrons included the Marquess of Stafford, George Granville Leveson-Gower (1758-1833) and Sir George Beaumont and the Academicians Thomas Phillips and Sir Francis Chantrey.

Stark enrolled as a student at the R...