In 1907 his family immigrated to the United States, where he received his bachelors' and doctorate degrees from Columbia University. He began teaching in 1928 and became a full professor at Columbia in 1952. Schapiro was a proponent of modern art, and published books on Van Gogh and Cézanne and various essays on modern art. He was a founder of Dissent, along with Irving Howe and Michael Harrington.From 1966—1967 Schapiro was the Norton professor at Harvard University.

Schapiro's discourse on style is often considered his greatest contribution to the study of art history. According to Schapiro, style refers to the formal qualities and visual characteristics of a piece of art. Schapiro demonstrated that style could be used not only as an identifier of a particular period but also as a diagnostic tool. Style is indicative of the artist and the culture at large. It reflects the economic and social circumstances in which an artist works and breathes and reveals underlying cultural assumptions and normative values. On the other hand our own descriptions of form and style indicate our period, our concerns, and our biases; the way art historians of a particular age talk about style is also indicative of their cultural context.

Classmate and friend Whittaker Chambers mentions him in his 1952 autobiography, Witness.

Marxist Art History

Schapiro was, at points in his career, criticized for his approach to style because of its politically radical connotations. Schapiro himself wrote scholarly articles for a variety of socialist publications and endeavored to apply a novel Marxist method to the study of art history. In his most famous essay on Medieval Spanish art, 'From Mozarabic to Romanesque in Silos,' Schapiro demonstrated how the concurrent existence of two historical styles in one monastery was indicative of economic upheaval and class conflict.

He died in New York City at the age of 91.

1950Vincent van Gogh. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1950 and reprints.1952Paul Cézanne. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1952 and reprints.1964The Parma Ildefonsus: A Romanesque Illuminated Manuscript from Cluny, and Related Works. New York: College Art Association of America, 1964.1973Words and Pictures. On the Literal and the Symbolic in the Illustration of a Text. Approaches to Semiotics series 11, ed. Thomas A Sebeok. The Hague and Paris: Mouton, 1973.1977Selected Papers I: Romanesque Art. New York: George Braziller, 1977.Translations: Italian, Arte Romanica (Turin: Giulio Einaudi, 1982).

	Spanish, Estudios sobre el Romanica (Madrid: Aliana Editorial, 1984).
	German, Romanische Kunst Ausgewahlte Schriften (Cologne: Dumont Verlag, 1987).

1978Selected Papers II: Modern Art: 19th and 20th Centuries. New York: George Braziller, 1978, 1982.Translations: Swedish, Modern Konst-1800-talet och 1900-taket-Vakda Studier, 1981

	German, Moderne Kunst-19.und 20. Jahrhundert-Ausgewahlte Aufsatze (Cologne: DuMont Buchverlag, 1982).
	Italian, L’Arte Moderna (Turin: Giulio Einaudi Editore, n.d.).
	Spanish, El Arte Moderno (Madrid: Alianza Editorial, S.A., 1988).

1979Selected Papers III: Late Antique, Early Christian, and Medieval Art. New York: George Braziller, 1979.Translations: Spanish, Estudios sobre el arte de la Antiguedad Tardia, el Cristianismo Primitivo y la Edad Media (Madrid: Aliana Editorial, 1987).Reprints: Late Antique, Early Christian and Mediaeval Art Selected Papers (London: Chatto and Windus, 1980).1982Style, Artiste et Societe, trans. Blaise Allan et. a. Paris: Editions Gallimard, 1982.1985The Romanesque Sculpture of Moissac. New York: George Braziller, 1985.

• Reprint of Schapiro’s dissertation originally published in Art Bulletin. Includes photographs by David Finn.

1994Selected Papers IV: Theory and Philosophy of Art: Style, Artist, and Society. George Brailler, 1994.1995Mondrian: On the Humanity of Abstract Painting. New York; George Braziller, 1995.Meyer Schapiro : the bibliography / compiled by Lillian Milgram Schapiro. New York : G. Braziller, 1995.Books published posthumously1996Words, Script, and Pictures: The Semiotics of Visual Language. New York: George Braziller, 1996.1997Impressionism: Reflections and Perceptions. New York George Braziller, 1997.1998A kind of rapture / Robert Bergman ; introduction by Toni Morrison ; afterword by Meyer Schapiro. New York: Pantheon Books, 1998.1999Worldview in Painting...Art and Society: Selected Papers, Vol. 5. New York: George Braziller, 1999.2000The Unity of Picasso’s Art. New York: George Braziller, 2000.Meyer Schapiro : his painting, drawing, and sculpture. New York : Harry N. Abrams, Publishers, 2000.2005Language of Forms: Lectures on Insular Manuscript Art. New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, 2005.2006Romanesque architectural sculpture: The Charles Eliot Norton lectures. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006.2008Meyer Schapiro abroad : letters to Lillian and travel notebooks. Los Angeles, Calif. : Getty Research Institute, c2009.