David Bekker was born in Vilna, Poland. He studied at the Antokolsky Art School in Russia; the Bezalel Art Academy in Jerusalem, Palestine; and the Academy of Fine Arts in Denver.

His teachers in Bezalel were Boris Schatz and Abel Pann. During the Depression, Bekker was a WPA artist who created images of human suffering and painted murals in Illinois public buildings.

In 1932, he published a portfolio of woodcuts, Myths and Moods.