Printmaker and photographer Wolfgang Gafgen was born in Hamburg, Germany, on September 12, 1936. He studied at the Hamburg School of Fine Arts from 1957 to 1961, studying with Otto Dix and taking elective courses at Stuttgart Academy in 1961 before moving to Paris later that year. His first solo exhibition took place in 1964 at Galerie Jacob. In the late 1960s his work evolved to focus on large-format prints, photos, and drawings, often requiring three panels to execute.

The 1970s saw his first major exhibitions beginning with a show at the Museum of Modern Art, NY, in 1972. In 1976 he exhibited at the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art, and in 1977 was a participant in documenta 6, a major photography exhibition in Cassel, Germany, featuring 655 artists. In the 1980s two major exhibitions of his work were held at the Center for Engraving and the Printed Image in La Louviere, Belgium, and at the Art Center Le Lait d'Albi, France.

From 1983 to 2009 Gafgen was a professor of painting and graphics at the State Academy of Art and Design at Stuttgart. Wolfgang Gäfgen is represented in numerous museums and collections, including the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (DE), Hamburger Kunsthalle (DE), Fondation Maeght, Saint Paul-de-Vence (FR), Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (FR), Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki (FI), The Museum of Modern Art, New York (US) and The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo (JP), among others.