George Henry Story painted landscapes, genre and portraits. He was also an early portraitist of President Abraham Lincoln. He was a curator and worked as the acting director of two major American museums. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut. Story studied in Paris for one year, and then went back to set up a studio in Portland, Maine. Here, he worked for only 2 years and then relocated to Washington D.C., and continued with his artwork. For a period of time while he was in Washington, Story had met President Abraham Lincoln, drawing him in pencil. Later, the artist had the opportunity to do a sketch of Lincoln for 3 days in the Oval office, while he was preparing to paint a portrait of the President that was commissioned. He actually painted several portraits of the president.
The artist wrote about this experience: he said that after meeting the president, he would return to his room and work upon his picture with the president (his sitter) clearly in mind, just as though the president was with him in the room. His paintings are in the collections of such venerable institutions as the National Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and The White House in Washington, D.C. Story loved art from a young age. In fact at the age of 15, he was apprenticed to a woodworker for 3 years before he began his formal training with portraitists Charles Hine and Louis Bail. The influence of these two artists is clearly evident in his art which is today adorning the walls of many prestigious buildings all over the world.
