Ira Moskowitz, descendant of a long rabbinical line, was born in Poland and went with his family to Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1914. The family remained there until 1927, and young Moskowitz received his first education in Prague's schools. Soon after, his family moved to New York City, and in 1927 Moskowitz became the pupil of Henry Wickey at the Art Students League, having finally resolved his conflict between a passion for drawing and a desire to follow the rabbinical profession of his forefathers. Between 1935 and 1938, he traveled to Israel and to Europe where he studied the works of the old masters, an interest derived from his first teacher and one that eventually led to his active collaboration in 1954 on the four-volume series, "Great Drawings of All Time."

In 1939, Moskowitz made his first trip to Mexico, and stayed for six months. In 1943 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship and moved to New Mexico, where he remained for seven years drawing the Indians and becoming an active member of the Taos, Santa Fe artists group. His book, "Patterns and Ceremonials of the Indians of the Southwest," appeared in 1949. Since 1962, Moskowitz has divided his time between Paris and New York.