Albert Earl Gilbert was born on August 22, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the oldest of the three children of Albert and Alice Gilbert. His father was an excellent tool and die maker who helped his son develop his penchant for detail by coaching him in the painting and construction of model airplanes.

While he was still a senior in high school, Mr. Gilbert participated in a statewide scholarship examination that netted him a full four-year scholarship to the University of Illinois. There he met Nylene Myers, a pretty coed, who shared his interest in art and wildlife. They were married a year later in the campus chapel of the University of Chicago.

For the first two years of his married life, Mr. Gilbert worked as a park ranger for the Cook County Forest Preserve in Illinois. The job offered plenty of security and the pay was good, but the urge to paint on a full-time basis finally overtook him. He made the decision to quit his job as a ranger in 1964 and launched his career as a free-lance artist.

He and Nylene made their home on the edge of a nature preserve just 95 miles from New York City, where they raised their5 children, Andy, Kathy, and Karl. They wanted to be close to the New York market but still raise a family in the countryside of Connecticut.

Mr. Gilbert gained a reputation, as an artist who knows his subject, through expeditions that were sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History. Mr. Gilbert's work met the museum’s standards for accuracy and attention to detail. Through the years, he has traveled to East Africa, Madagascar, the Amazon jungle, Mexico and Trinidad. He climbed Eagle Hill with Leslie Brown, the renowned authority on eagles and other birds of prey, while he was in Africa. Only four Americans had climbed to the top before.

As an artist, Mr. Gilbert’s mission includes drawing attention to the plight of our wildlife. His original paintings and prints have been donated to help raise funds to protect and preserve endangered species and their habitat. He hopes his art will have a direct effect on the survival of the world’s wildlife in this way.