Born in Philadelphia, John Barnes was a commercial artist and landscape and still-life painter. He is credited with the design of the logo for RCA Victor and was the long-time employee of the Radio Corporation of America Victor Design Division. As a painter, his style was primarily impressionist, although he experimented with many styles.
He studied at the Philadelphia School of Industrial Design and the Pennsylvania Academy with Daniel Garber, and also studied in Europe for two years on a Cresson Traveling Scholarship and a Tappan Prize award, both from the Pennsylvania Academy.