Robert K. Abbett, noted as one of America's contemporary masters of sporting and wildlife art, was born in Hammond, Indiana in 1926 and is a graduate of Purdue University and the University of Missouri.

After attending night and weekend classes at both the Chicago Academy of Fine Art and the American Academy of Art, Abbett pursued a career in editorial and advertising art in Chicago, moving to Connecticut in 1953 to be closer to the editorial markets. There he illustrated for The Woman's Home Companion, Argosy, Sports Afield, Reader's Digest and True magazines; worked with several of the west coast motion picture studios and did covers for all of the major paperback publishers.

In 1970, the commi...