Joseph Whiting Stock: A Portraitist Defying Adversity Joseph Whiting Stock (1815 – 1855) stands as a remarkable testament to artistic perseverance and ingenuity. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, his life was irrevocably altered by a childhood accident—a cart colliding with him leaving him paralyzed from the waist down—yet he refused to surrender to circumstance, transforming physical limitations into fuel for creative ambition. Stock’s journey began under the tutelage of Franklin White, a student of Chester Harding, and crucially benefited from the guidance of his physician who designed a…