Bela Petheo was born in 1934 in Budapest, Hungary where he earned a Master's degree in art history from Eotvos Lorant University followed by an assistantship at the Museum of Fine Arts under Andrew Pigler, (Barockthemen). In 1957 he escaped the brutal Soviet occupation. While in Vienna, Austria, he was awarded a Rockefeller scholarship to study simultaneously at Karl Lueger University and the Academy of Fine Arts under Albert Paris Gutersloh. He also had brief contact with Oskar Kokoschka's “School of Seeing” at Salzburg. In 1959 he immigrated to the United States with just $32.00 to his name.
In 1963 he received his M.F.A. degree from the University of Chicago where he studied under Joshua C. Taylor and Max Kahn. In 1966, after teaching Chicago and Cedar Falls (Iowa), he joined the Art Department of St. John's University at Collegeville, Minnesota where he retired in 1997 as Professor Emeritus.
In 1970, Petheo married Kathleen Benko. Their two daughters Kristine and Elizabeth were born in 1974 and 1978 respectively. The artist resides in St. Cloud, Minnesota where he maintains his painting studio.
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