William Lees Judson was born in 1842 in Manchester, England, and moved to the United States with his parents when he was ten years old. After serving four years with the Illinois volunteers during the American Civil War, Judson studied art in New York and Paris.

 

He settled in London, Ontario, where he became a successful portrait painter and art teacher. Judson spent about 10 years of his life working in London and he taught one of Canada’s most well known historical artists, Paul Peel, in around 1875 – 1876.

 

He moved to Chicago in 1890 but, suffering from failing health, he moved to Los Angeles in 1893. He settled on the banks of the Arroyo Seco in the Garvanza section of Los Angeles and became part of an influential scene of artists in the Arroyo.  A 1937 radio program noted that it was "love at first sight" when Judson saw the Arroyo Seco, and the area became his home for the rest of his life. The beauty of the area stirred Judson to switch from portrait painting to landscapes.

 

In 1895, he founded the Los Angeles College of Fine Arts (which became part of the University of Southern California) at his home in Garvanza. Acting as the college dean until his retirement in 1920, Judson was integral in the development of the school’s curriculum, and he was responsible for the academic training of most of the artists educated in Los Angeles for a period of over twenty-five years.

 

Under Judson's direction in 1901, the College of Fine Arts constructed its own building across the street from Judson’s home  studio. When the College moved to the USC main campus in 1920, the W. H. Judson Art Glass Company—which had been founded in 1897 by Judson’s three sons—came to occupy the college’s vacated building. A workshop specializing in fine stained glass and mosaics, now called Judson Studios, occupies the same building to the present day, and is still run by the Judson family.

 

In 1905 Judson co-founded the Arroyo Guild of Fellow Craftsmen with fellow artist George Wharton James, and became their first president. The Guild was a group of artists and craftsmen inspired by the arts and crafts movement, specifically the work of William Morris and Gustav Stickley.

 

Judson's paintings are included in the collections of several museums, including the Southwest Museum and the Irvine Museum in Southern California, and the London (Ontario) Regional Art and Historical Museums.

 

Judson passed away in his home in October of 1928.