Beck studied at the Institute of Fine Arts, and at the Gymnasium, Oredea Mare, Romania, and the Art Students League, New York. Her first of many one-person exhibition took place in New York in 1955. Among her many awards in national exhibitions are the Audubon Artists Medal of Honor in both 1968 and 1972, and the National Association of Women Artists Medal of Honor, 1956. In Academy annual exhibitions her work has received the Carnegie Award, 1973; the Palmer Prize, 1975; and the Puzinas Prize, 1978.
Beck taught from 1956 to 1967 at the North Shore Community Arts Center in her city of residence, Great Neck, New York. In 1967 she became an instructor at New York University. She is a Fellow of the Edward MacDowell Association, a member of Artists Equity Association, and the Audubon Artists. Beck is represented by the ACA Galleries, New York.