Arik Brauer was born as child of Jewish emigrants from Russia in Vienna. Today he lives in Vienna and Israel. Between 1946 and 1951, Brauer enjoyed a classic artistic training at the academy in Vienna under Paris von Gütersloh, who made a name for himself as the legendary spiritual mentor of the Vienna School of Magic Realism. Brauer gained international fame with this group. In contrast to the dominating abstract painting the group tied up to classic Surrealism and Old Master art in the 1950s. Influenced by Piter Breughel's and Hieronymus Bosch's image world Brauer developed an image cosmos , which evolved between Old Master technique and fantastic Surrealism.
In 1979 the first large retrospective of his work took place, in 1982 several exhibitions travelling though the USA followed. The same year he accepted an order for a mural from the university of Haifa. Brauer regarded himself not only as a painter, but also as an architect, graphic artist, author, poet, songwriter and balladeer. This versatility demonstrated a constant unity of his productivity and life, which was carried by a human idealism.