Billings, Henry (American, 1901-1985) “Form in Light.” Oil on canvas painting. Signed lower right “H. Billings ‘61.” In good condition. Measures 36” x 26”. Frame measures 44” x 27”.

From Askart: A painter, illustrator, muralist and art teacher at Bard College from 1935 to 1953, Henry Billings was active for most of his career in New York City where his work is in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art. He was the grandson of John Shaw Billings, who was a Civil War Surgeon and the first director of the New York Public Library. Henry Billings took his undergraduate education at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and studied at the Art Students League in New York. He worked in the offices of architecture and engineering firms in New York City and spent much time in Woodstock, New York where he was a member of the Art Colony. For the third floor ladies powder room at Radio City Music Hall at Rockefeller Center Billings completed a decorative mural in 1932 that "stylistically moves away from Art Deco and toward Surrealism, where dreams and unreality were key themes. In this mural a crouching panther dominates the foreground." (Roussel, 28) Giving the appearance of stalking and suggesting power and cunning, the image was startling for many viewers, and was certainly a departure from traditional 'pretty' decoration of upscale women's restrooms. The previous year, 1931, Henry Billings, age 29 and described as "large and slightly morose", had an exhibit of his pictures, which averaged about ten by six-feet each. The theme was modern machinery, and the paintings were intended projects for public facilities such as skyscrapers, air terminals and factories. It was Billings' "theory that colorful, firmly-painted abstractions, based on worn-gear drives or air-cooled radial engines, six cylinder motors, steam engines, are more suitable for modern buildings than nymphs, satryrs or noble Red Men standing on the site of Number Six smelter. . . .Billings good friend, Murdock Pemberton of The New Yorker went further, and called them 'as thrilling as anything in town at present.' " (Time)