George Bartko was born in Hungary. He spent three years as an apprentice to the Hungarian painter Lajos Szabo before coming to the United States in 1956. Bartko earned a BFA in painting and printmaking at the University of Illinois, Urbana in 1965, and his MFA in painting and printmaking at the University of Florida, Gainesville in 1967. Since 1968, Bartko has taught painting, drawing and lithography at St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley in Missouri.

Bartko’s paintings, monotypes, and lithographs have been exhibited at prominent institutions including the St. Louis Art Museum and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. He has received several awards, including a grant from the Ford Foundation.