George William Joy (Irish painter) 1844 - 1925
George William Joy was born in Dublin, but came to England as a relatively young man and studied at the South Kensington and Royal Academy Schools. He then travelled to Paris to further his studies in 1868, returning to England to settle in Bayswater in London. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1872 to 1914, and also at the Royal Society of British Artists, where he was elected to full membership. Joy’s work is enormously varied in style and subject. He was a very high quality painter of contemporary genre scenes – as exemplified in the London Museums’ much reproduced painting of his The Bayswater Omnibus. He was no less celebrated when dealing with near contemporary history, his Death of General Gordon at Khartoum being still widely known today. But he also succeeded in producing a number of very compelling exercises in the late Pre-Raphaelite manner - Joan of Arc and Elaine being fine examples. * * * To read an autobiography about him, you can read this facsimlie edition of 1904 The Work of George W. Joy: With an Autobiographical Sketch Cassell and Company, Limited https://archive.org/stream/workgeorgewjoyw00joygoog#page/n9/mode/2up ... You can use the arrows of your keyboard to skip through the pages.
