Helen Forbes was born in San Francisco and lived in California for the majority of her life. She traveled extensively, and studied art in Munich and Paris before returning to California in 1924 to study in Carmel. During the 1930s she taught at UC Berkeley and was hired as part of the Works Progress Administration to paint post office murals.
Her paintings, inspired by her love of the California landscape, feature local plants, animals, and people rendered with a modernist slant learned during her study in Europe. She focused especially on portraiture and upon the interaction between architectural elements and their strong surrounding landscapes in the Western United States.
Museums with Forbes' pieces in their permanent collections include the Monterey Museum of Art, the Oakland Museum of California, and the San Diego Museum of Art.
Awards: Honorable Mention, Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1919; San Francisco Society of Women Artists, 1930, 1934; California State Fair, 1934.

Exhibited: San Francisco Arts Association, 1913; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1919; Pasadena Art Institute, 1928; San Francisco Society of Women Artists, 1930, 1934; Los Angeles County Museum of Art 1932; San Diego Museum of Fine Arts, 1932; California State Fair, 1934; Golden Gate Exposition San Francisco, 1939; 48 States Competition 1939; Beaux Arts Gallery; Gump's San Francisco.

Works Held: San Francisco Museum of Art (now the SF MOMA); Fine Arts Gallery, San Diego; Mills College, California; Fleishacker Zoo Mother House, San Francisco; Works Progress Administration murals at US Post offices in Merced, Monrovia, and Susanville, California; Monterey Museum of Art (Pacific), Oakland Museum of California; San Diego Museum of Art.