Arturo Di Stefano was born in 1955 in Huddersfield, England of Italian parents. He studied Fine Art at Liverpool Polytechnic (1973-4), Goldsmiths’ College University of London (1974–77) and the Royal College of Art, London (1978-81). In 1985 he was awarded an Italian Government Scholarship to study at the Accademia Albertina, Turin. Since 1987 he has exhibited regularly in London at the Purdy Hicks Gallery and has held exhibitions in Italy, Germany and the USA. His work is included in many collections including: Victoria and Albert Museum, London; National Portrait Gallery, London; Museum of London; Government Art Collection; Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; Contemporary Art Society; Arts Council Collection; and the Fogg Art Museum, USA.

Arturo Di Stefano was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery in 1996 and 2004 to paint the portraits of Sir Richard Doll and Jan Morris respectively. He has written articles and essays on Cezanne, Sickert, Picasso, and recently contributed two essays included in publications on the writer Jan Morris and the sculptor Carl Plackman. A monograph on his work was published in 2001 with essays by John Berger, the poet Michael Hofmann, and Christopher Lloyd, the former Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures.