Portrait of G. A. Storey. Wood engraving on paper; The Illustrated London News, 6 May 1876: 437.
G. A. Storey was born at St. James's, Middlesex on January 7, 1834, the second son of James Storey, a jeweller, and his wife Emily Finch. George received the initial rudiments of his education at Morden Hall, a private boarding school in Surrey. In 1848 he moved to Paris to continue his education with Monsieur Maraud, a mathematics professor at the Athénée-Royale. He also studied art with Jean Louis Dulong and copied pictures in the Louvre. He returned to England at the end of December 1849. After his return to London, Storey worked briefly for an architect but found the occupation was not congenial to his interests or talents. In 1851 he made the acquaintance of C. R. Leslie, the Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy, and was invited to attend his lectures. Storey began a life-long friendship with his son George Dunlop Leslie. Storey initially undertook art lessons with James Matthew Leigh at Leigh's Academy where his fellow students included Henry Stacy Marks and P.H. Calderon. Storey later studied at the Royal Academy Schools from 1854. Here he met other future members of the St. John's Wood Clique including John E. Hodgson, William F. Yeames, Frederick Walker, and David Wilkie Wynfield. The core of the group held weekly meetings at their homes to draw together, discuss art, gossip, and to generally exchange ideas. They often spent summers together, either staying in one another's country houses, in the homes of their friends, or occasionally renting properties. A favourite and memorable rental was Hever Castle in Kent, which provided the interior settings for several of their pictures.
Left to right. (a) Front cover of Storey's Sketches from Memory, dedicated to "Emily & Gladys," his wife and daughter. (b) Hever Castle (Storey 332). (c) Storey's daughter, Gladys (Storey, title page and also on p. 255).
Storey's first painting was accepted at the Royal Academy in 1852 and he continued to exhibit there for many years. He also exhibited at the British Institution, the Society of British Artists, the Dudley Gallery, and the New Watercolour Society. In 1862-63 he travelled Spain to visit his uncle, to paint portraits, and to study Spanish art where he admired the Old Masters in the Prado in Madrid. In 1868 and 1875 he visited Paris with G. D. Leslie. In 1879 he made a journey through Italy with Philip Calderon. Storey became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1875 but was not elected a full Academician until 1914. From 1900 he was the Professor of Perspective at the R.A. Schools. In 1910 he published his book The Theory and Practice of Perspective. He was a member of the Arts Club from 1874-95. He was a prominent member of the St. John's Wood Clique during the time he lived at 19 St. John's Wood Road. He later moved to 39 Broadhurst Gardens, Hampstead. In 1882 he married Emily Hayward who was twenty-nine years his junior. They had one daughter Mary "Gladys" Storey, born c.1888. Storey died on July 29, 1919 at his home in Hampstead and was interred at Hampstead Cemetery.
Bibliography
Dafforne, James. "The Works of George Adolphus Storey." The Art Journal New Series XIV (1875):173-76.
Fenn, William Wilthew. "A Painter of Prettines." The Magazine of Art VI (1883): 353-58.
Margaux, Adrian. "The Art of Mr. G. A. Storey, A.R. A." The Windsor Magazine XXII (1905): 613-27.
Storey, G. A.: Sketches from Memory. London: Chatto and Windus, 1899.
Created 23 September 2023