Painter and mixed media artist Julius Hatofsky was born in Ellenville, New York, in 1922. His earliest formal art education took place in various courses through the Federal Art Project during the Depression as a teenager. To make ends meet he took a job as a policeman in New York City before being drafted into 82nd Airborne Division during World War II; he would fight in the Battle of the Bulge and participate in the liberation of a concentration camp in 1945.

On returning from war he enrolled in classes at the Art Students League in 1946, studying under Morris Kantor and Robery Beverly Hale. Drawn to Abstract Expressionism as it catapulted in the American art world, he worked in oils, watercolor, pastels, charcoal, and graphite to achieve the vibrant, motion-filled works he would become known for. In 1950 he lived for a year in Paris where he studied at the Grand Chaumiere, and then returned to New York to attend the Hans Hoffman School in 1952. He exhibited frequently, and in 1961 he relocated to the West Coast, settling in the San Francisco Bay Area. From 1962 to 1995 he was a drawing and painting instructor at the San Francisco Art Institute.

In 1995 he moved to Vallejo, just northeast of San Francisco. There, he continued to work and exhibit until late in his life. He was quoted as saying "At age 83 I have a range and variety of expression and imagery and feel a command over the work that has taken over sixty years to acquire. I constantly try to reach deeper, to move beyond my limitations, to challenge myself and to learn." (Herskovic, Maria. American Abstract and Figurative Expressionism: Style is Timely, Art is Timeless. New York, New York School Press, 2009.)

Julius Hatofsky died on January 1st, 2006.

Selected solo exhibitions:
1958: Avant-Garde Gallery, New York, NY
1959: Holland Goldowsky Gallery, Chicago, IL
1961, '63: Charles Egan Gallery, New York City
1965, '66: Marylhurst College, Portland, OR
1967: Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
1968: Emmanuel Walter Collection, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
1974: Smith-Anderson Gallery, Palo Alto, CA
1975: Smith-Anderson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1983, 85: Paule Anglim Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1987, 89: Pier 23 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1988: Museum of Modern Art Rental Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1993: Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA
1994–1996: D.P.Fong Galleries, San Jose, CA
2000: Painting and Drawing, Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA
2003: Drawings, Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel, CA
2005: Painting and Drawing, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA
2008: Paintings, The Bank of America, San Francisco, CA

Selected Solo Exhibitions:
1994-1996 “Still Working” traveling show, United States:
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL; The New School for Social Research, NY; Virginia Beach Center for the Arts, Virginia Beach, VA; Fisher Gallery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
1987: Jack Gallery, New York, New York; Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto, Gallery
1979: Smith-Anderson Gallery, Palo Alto, California
1978: Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas, Missouri
1977: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
1968: University of Texas, Austin, Texas
1959: Whitney Museum Annual, New York, New York
1958: Newark Museum Biennial, Newark, New Jersey

Awards:
Peter and Madelin Martin Foundation (2005); Pollock-Krasner Foundation (1999); Francis J. Greenburger Foundation (1986); National Endowment of the Arts (1977, 1967)

Collections:
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; Benicia Library, Benicia, CA; Whitney Museum, New York, NY; Neuberger Museum, New York, NY; Kalamazoo Museum, Kalamazoo, MI; TelFair Museum of Art, Savannah, GA; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA