Stanhope Forbes' father held an important position in the railway industry and married a French woman. Forbes studied at Dulwich College and then at Lambeth School of Art and the Royal Academy in London. He continued his studies in Berlin and with Léon Bonnat in Paris and spent several years in Brittany, where he painted prolifically before moving to Newlyn in Cornwall. He also visited and painted Venice. Forbes began exhibiting in 1874 in London at the Royal Academy. He became an associate of the Academy in 1892 and a full member in 1910. In 1905, he was made a corresponding member of the Institut de France. Forbes received a number of awards: in 1891 a medal in Berlin; in 1895 a gold medal in Munich; in 1900 a medal in Paris at the Exposition Universelle; and in 1910 a commendation in Pittsburgh. He painted an important decorative work entitled The Fire of London for the Stock Exchange in London. Portraiture was a less important aspect of his work but he did paint figures either alone or in everyday occupations and at work and in domestic genre scenes. He was a prolific landscape artist who specialised in painting Cornish scenes and fishing port scenes with figures.

Museum and Gallery Holdings

Aberdeen (AG): Self portrait
Birmingham (Mus. and AG): The Village Philharmonic (1888, oil on canvas)
Brighton (Mus. & AG): Christmas Eve (1897, oil on canvas); Mousehole Harbour (1910, oil on canvas)
Bristol (City Mus. & AG): Beach Scene, St Ives (1886); Home-Along, Evening (oil on canvas)
Exeter: News of the Death of Queen Victoria, 29 January 1901
Hull (Ferens Art Gallery): Newlyn (1906, oil on canvas); At their Moorings (1906, oil on canvas)
Liverpool (Walker AG): A Street in Brittany (1881, oil on canvas); By Order of the Court (1881, oil on canvas); Off to the Fishing Ground (1886, oil on canvas)
London (Imperial War Mus.): Women's Royal Naval Service Ratings Sailmaking: Onboard 'HMS Essex', at Devonport (1918, oil on canvas)
London (Royal Academy of Arts): The Harbour Window (1910, oil on canvas, competition piece)
London (Tate Collection): The Health of the Bride (1889, oil on canvas)
Manchester (City AG): The Lighthouse (Newlyn, Cornwall) (exhibited 1893, oil on canvas)
Norwich (Castle Mus. and AG): Portrait of Sir Peter Eade, Mayor of Norwich
Oldham: Horses Drinking
Plymouth: Post Office Worker
Sydney: Village Street
Worcester (City Mus.): Chadding on Mount's Bay (oil on canvas)