Abraham Rattner was born in New York and studied fine art at the Corcoran School of Art and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He moved to Paris in 1920 and was influenced by the work of Georges Rouault among others. He returned to the U.S.A. in 1940 and taught at several schools including The New School, NY.1947-55 and at the Yale University at New Haven,Connecticut 1952-55.