[2] Additionally, Fairbanks sculpted over a dozen Abraham Lincoln-themed sculptures and busts among which the most well-known reside in the U.S. Supreme Court Building and Ford's Theatre Museum.

In 1913, he studied abroad in Paris at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts where he was the youngest student admitted to the French salons.

[6]: 1  Fairbanks joined his father in New York City to copy art pieces at the Metropolitan Museum, where he was reluctantly received by the curators due to his inexperience.

However, he showed great skill and was called a "young Michelangelo" by the New York Herald, which led to other commissions such as animal models for the Bronx Zoological Gardens.

[6]: 2 He attended the Art Students League of New York on scholarship at age 13, instructed by James Earle Fraser.

[6]: 2 In 1913, Fairbanks studied at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, instructed by Jean Antoine Injalbert.

[6]: 2  He became the youngest student admitted to the French Salon; however, his studies were cut short due to World War I.

[7][2] Fairbanks and his father escaped Europe on the last train out of Paris and the last spots available on the boat Ansonia leaving Liverpool, returning to New York with only fifteen cents between the two of them.

[6]: 2 After returning from Paris, Fairbanks continued his artistry in Utah, focusing on clay modeling while completing high school.

[6]: 2  In 1915, he received his first major commission sculpting statues and an elaborate frieze on the Laie Hawaii Temple for the LDS Church with his brother, J.

[4][6]: 3  In 1933, Fairbanks, joined by his father and brother, created the Mormon Display for the Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

[25] A companion piece, Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood, was also created for Temple Square and was displayed in the Mormon Pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair.

[26][27] Although most of his later work was free-standing sculptures, Fairbanks did create several friezes for the Harold B. Lee Library on the Brigham Young University campus.

Around 1925–26, he designed several bas relief panels, cast in bronze, for large doors of the United States National Bank Building in Portland.

The door's panels represent ideals of American life such as "Knowledge and Service", "Domestic Welfare", and "Progress through Direction".

[7] Other prominent figures he sculpted included John Burke, Esther Morris, and Marcus Whitman, residing in the National Capitol Building.

[7] He created the Pegasus sculpture in the northeast garden at the Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester Hills, Michigan.

[41] His mother, Lilly Annetta Huish, died on May 12, 1898, about a year after he was born as a result of an injury related to a fall she had while she was carrying the fourteen-month-old Fairbanks.

[43] His second eldest son, Eugene F. Fairbanks, compiled 10 books using archival material to illustrate his father's sculpture career.

[2] Fairbanks was a member of many organizations and societies, including National Sculpture Society, the Architectural League of New York, the International Institute of Arts and Letters, the Protetore Della Contrada Della Torre da Siena, Italy, and the Circolo Delgi Artisti di Firenzi.