Judy Pfaff was born in London, England in 1946. She received a BFA from Washington University, Saint Louis (1971), and an MFA from Yale University (1973). She is a recipient of the Academy Member Fellowship, American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2013); Anonymous Was a Woman Award (2013); MacArthur Fellowship (2004); Guggenheim Fellowship (1983); National Endowment for the Arts grants (1979, 1986); and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She has numerous solo exhibitions and group shows in major galleries and museums in the United States and abroad. She holds work in permanent collections of Museum of Modern Art; Whitney Museum of American Art; Brooklyn Museum of Art; Detroit Institute of Arts; among many others. Pfaff is a Milton Avery Distinguished Professor of Art, Bard College (1989, 1991).
