Pablo O'Higgins was born Paul Higgins in Salt Lake City, Utah on March 1, 1904. O'Higgins first gained a close knowledge of modern Mexican art when he was appointed the primary assistant to the great master, Diego Rivera who became his friend and mentor. O'Higgins worked with Rivera for both his Chapingo and Ministry of Education projects. Due to political differences and O'Higgins' desire to create his own works, he left Rivera's tutelage when the Chapingo murals were completed.

Pablo O'Higgins exhibited in San Francisco at the Art Center Gallery (1925 and 1927) along with Diego Rivera, Jose Clement Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros and other great Mexican masters. He had a one-man exhibition in New York at the John Levy Gallery (1931), which included over twenty of his works.  It is imperative to mention that his work was included in the first large group exhibit of Mexican art held in the United States. He was the only non-native Mexican artist whose work was included in the Modern Art's exhibit "Twenty Centuries of Mexican Art" in New York (1940) and the Mexican Government has awarded him the highest honors in retrospectives of his work at El Palacio de Bellas Artes. Pablo O'Higgins became a Mexican citizen in 1961 and died there in 1983.