George Lee, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, was a resident of the Louisville neighborhood of Crescent Hill and had a studio downtown in the Kenyon Building. He took part in the Kentucky and Southern Indiana Exhibition of Art in the 1920s and 1930s. The list of exhibitors refers to him as "Captain George D. Lee." He was a decorated World War I veteran and apparently pursued painting on his return from the war. The influence of Paul Plaschke, a major player in the regional art scene, is readily apparent in his work.