Born in 1951 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, A.B. Makk is the son of illustrious artists Eva Makk and Americo Makk. The Makks are known today as "the world's leading family of artists". A.B. (short for Americo Bartholomew) took up brush and palette as normally as other children reach for ice cream cones: with enjoyment and pleasure. He was exhibiting his paintings at the age of four by the insistence of his patron and first collector, Don Jose Tupinamba de Frotas, a Bishop of Ceara. The Brazilian press reviewed these young works and wrote enthusiastically about the “Little Picasso.” His childhood contained a potpourri of exotic and extraordinary experiences, which undoubtedly were impressed upon his young mind and evidence themselves today in his painting style.

A.B. Makk traveled with his parents as they received exciting painting commissions throughout Brazil. Often he spent hours, even whole days, on scaffolds where Eva and Americo Makk were creating murals. When only seven years of age, he traveled deep into the Amazon jungle for more than a year with his parents during their commission to paint the indigenous tribal people, facing a primitive world filled with peril and fierce natural beauty.

A.B. Makk's art training included studies throughout Brazil. He came to the United States with his parents in 1962, attended high school and art school in New York, and moved with them to Hawaii in 1967. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Hawaii with majors in psychology and languages, A.B. continued his intensive art apprenticeship under his parents. Since then, he has exhibited regularly in galleries and museums in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan, and has won numerous awards and honors for his paintings.