Kauffer was born in Great Falls, Montana. By 1910, he had moved to San Francisco working as a bookseller, studying art at the Mark Hopkins Art Institute from 1910 to 1912. At around this time, Professor Joseph McKnight of the University of Utah became aware of Kauffer and his work. McKnight chose to sponsor Kauffer and paid to send him to Paris for further study.

In gratitude, Kauffer took his sponsor’s name as a middle name.
Kauffer stopped in Chicago for six months in 1912-1913 and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. While there he witnessed the Armory Show, one of the first major exhibitions to introduce the styles of post-modernism to American audiences. This likely had a major impact on Kauffer, who would work in many of the same styles throughout his career.