Fred Becker, a well-known artist and printmaker, was born in Oakland, California in 1913. He studied at the Otis Art Institute, and went to New York, studying architecture at New York University, but ultimately abandoned his plans for a career in architecture for that of an illustrator and printmaker.

In 1935, he joined the Graphic Arts Division of the Works Project Administration. After service in World War II, Becker returned to civilian life as a teacher at the Tyler School Of Art in Philadelphia. He subsequently moved to Amherst, Massachusetts and taught in the fine arts department at the University of Massachusetts from 1968 until his retirement in 1986. His work is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and many other institutions.