Ruth Gikow studied at the Cooper Union Art School. She was a WPA muralist and her murals appear in Rockefeller Center. In addition she was a practicing illustrator and in 1946 she was illustrator for Crime and Punishment. Her illustration work has been exhibited at Weyhe Gallery, the National Serigraph Gallery, Rockefeller Center and at the Golden Gate Exposition. Her work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, The Metroplitan Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.