Born in Yorkville, New York, Julian Levi’s parents moved to Philadelphia in 1906, where he eventually studied under Henry McCarter and Arthur Carles at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. In 1919, he was awarded a Cresson Traveling Scholarships by the Academy; he spent the summer of 1920 in Italy, followed by four years in Paris, where he exhibited paintings in the 1921 and 1922 Salons d’Automne. During that period, Levi met Jules Pascin and other contemporaries and returned for two years beginning in 1926.

While in Philadelphia, Levi participated in several collaborative exhibitions and met the noted collector Albert Barnes. He moved to New York in 1932 and was active in a number of artists’ groups including the American Artists’ Congress. He was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters. From 1936 – 1938, he was a member of the Federal Arts Project in New York. He taught at the Art Students’ League beginning in 1946, at the New School for Social Research, together with a number of teaching appointments elsewhere in the U.S. and Europe.

His paintings and prints are held by numerous museums and academic institutions. Julian Levi became an Associate Member of the National Academy of Design in 1973, and was elected to Full Membership in 1976.