Born in East Boston, Massachusetts, painter, lithographer and etcher Irwin Hoffman's early display of talent led to studies beginning at age 15 at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School where, upon graduation from public high school, he became a full time student with a full scholarship. At age 19, Hoffman mounted his first one man exhibit in a Boston galery. In 1924, the Museum School awarded Hoffman the Paige Traveling Scholarship, it's most distinguished prize, which enabled him to travel throughout Europe accompanied by fellow artists and good friends. There he absorbed both the classic traditions of European painting and the avant-garde styles then coming to the fore.

Returning to America, Hoffman established a studio in New York City which served him as a lifelong anchor, and from which he traveled during the 30s & 40s with his brothers, owners of a mining enterprise with locations in the American southwest, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. His work addressed the traditions of the ordinary people whom he encountered and befriended. It also reflects Hoffman's strong sense of social consciousness. Irwin Hoffman died at New York City.