Ralph Petty was born in the United States in 1952, came to Paris in 1976 to work in the etching studio of Sir Stanley Hayter, Atelier 17, and has remained in France since that time. He has taught at Parsons School of Design Paris,  L’Institut d’etudes politiques, Paris and was  Professor of Fine Arts at The American University of Paris where he created the Fine Arts major, the AUP Fine Arts Gallery and was the university curator for ten years. He also founded the AUP permanent art collection.

Ralph received the Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship for American artists in Paris and won a study grant from the Italian government for mosaic in Ravenna, Italy. He has exhibited in the USA, Europe, and Japan and has had a solo exhibition of paintings and drawings in the Novosibirsk National Art Museum, Novosibirsk, Russia. He exhibited with the Japanese artist, Matsutani , at the Haus-Kasuya Museum near Kamakura, Japan.