George William Joy was born in Dublin, Ireland on 7 July 1844. He studied at South Kensington School of Art in London and at the Royal Academy Schools in London where he was taught by John Everett Millais, Frederic Leighton, and George Frederic Watts. He then spent two years in Paris studying under Charles-François Jalabert and Léon Bonnat. He subsequently worked as a painter, primarily of historical and genre subjects. Probably his best-known paintings are General Gordon's Last Stand (1893) and The Bayswater Omnibus (1895). Joy was elected a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI) in 1895. Joy was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy in London from 1872 to 1914. He also exhibited at Royal Institute of Oil Painters in London; the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin; the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, the Manchester City Art Gallery; the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts; and at the Paris Salon.