Robert Stark was born in Torquay, Devon, England on 1 May 1853 and studied at the National Art Training Schools in South Kensington in London and in Paris and Florence. He subsequently worked as a sculptor. He also taught modelling at the National Art Training Schools in South Kensington [later Royal College of Art] from 1883 to 1886, and possibly in c.1911. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, the International Society of Sculptors, Painters & Gravers, New English Art Club, and Royal Society of British Artists in London; and at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. A bronze statuette entitled “An Indian Rhinoceros” by him was purchased for the Chantrey collection in 1892. In 1905 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors (FRBS).
In 1874 he married his first cousin, Florence Madeline (Flora) Stark (1861-1942), who was also a sculptor. In the early 1890s they studied together in Paris. The couple separated in 1903. Flora settled in Dronero, Italy, where she invested in and managed a silk factory. Robert remained in Devon until 1911 when he emigrated to Canada. He died in Victoria, British Columbia on 27 August 1931. The Stark's daughter, Dame Freya Madeline Stark (1893?-1993), was a travel writer.
Text source: Arts + Architecture Profiles from Art History Research net (AHRnet) https://www.arthistoryresearch.net/