mheu, Historical Museum of the Urban Environment

The artist

Born into a family of Irish artists, George William Joy was torn between a career as a violinist or as a painter. He settled on the latter and went to study in London, notably at the Royal Academy, and later in Paris. His work is in keeping with the great classical tradition: portraits and religious, romantic or historical scenes, such as his famous portrayal of the death of General Gordon in Khartoum in 1885. But his views of the Bayswater Omnibus, a horse-drawn omnibus in the Victorian era, show his ability to represent modern life in its most prosaic details.