John Boylston Fairbanks (commonly known as John B. Fairbanks) was one of the earliest professional artists born in the Utah Territory and a central figure in the development of art in Utah and within Latter-day Saint culture. He made enduring contributions as a landscape painter, muralist, teacher, and art mentor, and he helped shape an artistic legacy carried forward by his children and students.

Fairbanks was born on December 27, 1855, in Payson, Utah Territory, to John Boylston Fairbanks and Sarah Van Wagoner Fairbanks. His family were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and had settled in Utah after crossing the plains. From a young age Fairbanks showed an interest in drawing, inspired by prints his mother treasured, including an engraving of Rosa Bonheur’s Horse Fair. As a child, he studied these images avidly, even wearing them through frequent handling.

Although Fairbanks loved art, he did not immediately pursue it seriously. As a youth he enjoyed outdoor activities and baseball, but his focus shifted when John Hafen, an aspiring Utah artist, opened a studio in Payson. Fairbanks began spending many hours observing Hafen paint and quickly became engrossed in the artistic process. Encouraged by Hafen, who became a close friend and mentor, Fairbanks developed confidence in his own abilities. After producing a convincing landscape of a castle, his mother recognized and encouraged his artistic talent, providing a crucial emotional boost early in his career.

In 1877, he married Lillie Annetta Huish, and soon after he served a mission for the LDS Church in the Southern States from 1881 to 1883. During these early adult years, he balanced artistic pursuits with practical work to support his growing family—assisting photographers, selling newspapers, and enlarging photographs—while continuing to paint landscapes and portraits of local Utah figures.

A defining moment in Fairbanks’s career came in 1890, when he joined fellow Utah artists John Hafen, Lorus Pratt, and Edwin Evans in being sponsored by the LDS Church to study art in Paris, France. The group enrolled at the Académie Julian, where they received formal training in figure drawing and landscape painting. Their mission was to prepare to paint murals for the nearly completed Salt Lake Temple.

In Paris, Fairbanks studied under teachers such as Albert Rigolot, who emphasized a French rural naturalist style and painting outdoors (plein air). He also worked with Benjamin Constant, who reportedly praised Fairbanks’s progress in landscape painting. While in Europe, Fairbanks even completed a copy of Horse Fair, reconnecting with an early inspiration from his youth. The Paris experience broadened his artistic vocabulary and exposed him to contemporary approaches blending naturalism and emerging impressionist tendencies.

Fairbanks returned to the United States around 1892 and soon undertook work he had prepared for: painting murals in the Salt Lake Temple, which were completed by the temple’s dedication in 1893. He later assisted with murals in the Mesa Arizona Temple, applying techniques learned in France to large-scale decorative painting that would be viewed by thousands of church members and visitors.

After the temple projects, Fairbanks struggled like many regional artists of his era to make a living solely from painting. Although he continued to produce landscapes and exhibit work, public recognition and financial success were limited. He was particularly drawn to tonal impressionism and naturalistic depictions of rural farm life, reflecting Utah’s landscapes and agricultural communities. His artwork often emphasized muted color harmonies and the atmospheric qualities of light on fields and valleys—a stylistic marriage of French training and western subject matter.

Fairbanks also became involved in art education. He taught classes at the early Brigham Young Academy (now Brigham Young University), served as an art supervisor in Ogden schools, and was a founding member of the Utah Art Institute (today the Utah Division of Arts & Museums). These roles extended his influence beyond his own painting, contributing to the training and encouragement of younger Utah artists.

Tragedy struck in 1898 when Fairbanks’s first wife, Lillie, died from a fall down stairs while carrying their baby son, Avard (who survived and later became a renowned sculptor). Left with seven children, Fairbanks sought additional work to support his family. Around 1900 he joined Benjamin Cluff’s archaeological expedition to Latin America as a photographer and sketch artist, documenting sites for later artistic use.

Fairbanks later remarried Florence Gifford in 1917, with whom he had five additional children. Several of his children—including J. Leo Fairbanks and Avard T. Fairbanks—became prominent artists, carrying forward his artistic legacy.

In his later years, Fairbanks painted extensively in Zion National Park and other western landscapes, becoming one of the first artists to live and work in the park’s dramatic environment. Despite financial ups and downs, he continued teaching, farming, and painting until his death in Salt Lake City on June 15, 1940 at the age of 84.

Painting by Edwin Evans, collection of Clayton R. Williams

Untitled painting by John B. Fairbanks, dated 1912, collection of Tom and Linda Alder

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