John (Jules) Billington was one of the most unique and visionary artists working in Southern California during the Depression Era. His compositions often combined American Scene subject matter with a bold and vibrant palette which often resulted in strikingly modernist, sometimes magic realist works. Born in Meadville, Missouri on Feb. 17, 1900, Billington studied at the University of Missouri, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Art Students League in New York City. He worked as an instructor at the Grand Central School of Art. By the 1930s he had settled in Whittier, California, and in the 1940s was a technical illustrator at Lockheed Aircraft. He exhibited widely during the 1930s and 1940s including at the California Watercolor Society, 1938-47; Laguna Beach Art Association, 1938 (prize); San Francisco Art Association, 1939-42; Palos Verde Community Arts Association, 1940 (honorable mention); Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, 1940; New York World's Fair, 1939; American Artists Congress, 1940 (prize); Riverside Museum, 1940; Art Institute of Chicago (1940); San Diego Fine Arts Society, 1941 (prize); Los Angeles County Art Museum (1941) (prize); Douglas Aircraft Company, 1943 (prize). In 1939, Los Angeles Times art critic, Arthur Miller, favorably reviewed Billington’s work entered at the 19th Annual Exhibition of the California Watercolor Society at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (“Others whose work this reviewer especially relished are . . . Jules L. Billington (bizarre but certainly gives you the flaming sun heat on the beach.”)) Billington died in Los Angeles on January 12, 1972. Billington is listed in Who was Who in American Art and other standard references.

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