Green & Stone of Chelsea, picture framers and supplier of specialist art materials, was first established on the King’s Road in Chelsea in 1927 when Mr Alfred Green and his sons Alfie and Peter were invited to work from the Chenil Gallery by its directors, Augustus John and Bernard Shaw.

In 1934, Green & Stone relocated a 5 minute walk away to 259 King’s Road, a premises previously run as a shop for the Women’s Suffragette Movement. From here Mr Green and his sons continued to run the shop primarily as a picture framing business, offering only a small selection of art materials.

In 1972 my father, Mr Rodney Baldwin, first set foot in the store as trainee manager, eventually buying the business from the Greens in 1978. Since then, he oversaw the successful growth of the framing department, focusing on high quality, hand made frames. The most marked change in the business was the growth of the art materials section. This has increased tenfold, making Green & Stone one of the largest retailers of Fine Art Materials in Europe. Yet its expansion has not led to the business losing any of its traditional charm, Mr Baldwin’s ethos of old fashioned, high quality service is paramount to the shop’s raison d’être.

Green & Stone has been described as one of the most friendly and enchanting shops to visit in London and we are delighted to say that our staff (all exhibiting artists) are always on hand to offer expert help and specialist advice about materials and techniques. Divided over two floors, our lower ground floor carries a wide range of easels, paper, sketchbooks, acrylics, pastels, technical drawing canvas and stretchers alongside craft rooms dedicated to modelling, card making, fabric and glass painting plus materials and activities for young children. For the serious artist, Green & Stone’s independent status ensures we can offer the finest materials available and source specific items upon request.  Our range includes:
Artist’s Oil Colours by Michael Harding, Sennelier, Winsor & Newton and Charvin
Watercolours by Schmincke and Daniel Smith
Acrylics by Golden, Liquitex and Daler Rowney. 
The incredible variety of items within this Aladdin’s cave is an inspiration and browsing is almost always fruitful.  Our antique, vintage and gift sections are a unique source for presents when everywhere else has drawn a blank.  

Whilst we have seen most shops around us come and go, Green & Stone is still thriving, 93 years on. This is down to our fiercely loyal fan-base of customers, most of whom we know by name. We are delighted to find young art students would rather visit us than shop online thanks to our empathy and unparalleled support of emerging artists, including competitions, exhibitions and a healthy discount!

As I embark on taking over Green & Stone from my father, I remind myself daily of how he has also made this into a sanctuary for many artists. I take it upon myself to ensure that the doors stay firmly open to those who seek advice, like minded people or even a cup of tea. I intend to enhance Green & Stone’s history and enrich it’s future. My first step has been to open up a large, well proportioned gallery space, details of which can be found on ‘The Gallery’ tab on our homepage.

Thank you for your continued support.

— Hester Baldwin, Managing Director of Green and Stone of Chelsea