Künstler’s talent and training were
nurtured from an early age. After studying art at Brooklyn
College, U.C.L.A. and Pratt Institute, Künstler became a successful
illustrator in New York where he received assignments from
book and magazine publishers. An important part of his training
resulted from his affiliation with National Geographic
Magazine. It was through their assignments of historical
subject matter that he learned the value of working with historians
so that accuracy was firmly imbued into his concept.
In the early 1970s, Künstler’s paintings
began attracting the attention of serious art collectors.
At first the interest was mainly in his Western subject matter,
but after a major museum retrospective exhibition and a one-man
show at the prestigious Hammer Galleries in New York City,
Künstler became known as an important painter of historic
subjects. Since his first show in 1977, Künstler has had eleven
more highly successful one-man shows at Hammer Galleries.
In 1982, a commission from CBS-TV to
do a painting for the mini-series, “The Blue and the Gray”
directed Künstler’s interest towards the Civil War. Although
the research was painstaking, he devoted much time to making
sure that his painting The High Water Mark was meticulously
correct. The painting was unveiled at the Gettysburg National
Military Park Museum on July 2, 1988 in celebration of the
125th anniversary of the battle. It is considered the most
accurate and exciting painting ever done of the event. Since
then, Künstler has been concentrating on Civil War subject
matter.
In 1986, more than two hundred of Künstler’s
works were published in the book, The American Spirit -
The Paintings of Mort Künstler, with text by famed historian
Henry Steele Commager. An updated edition of The American
Spirit was published in 1994 by Rutledge Hill Press. Images
of the Civil War - The Paintings of Mort Künstler, with
text by Pulitzer Prize winning author James McPherson, was
published in 1992. Gettysburg - The Paintings of Mort Künstler,
also with text by James McPherson was published by Turner
Publishing as a companion piece to the epic feature film and
mini-series Gettysburg.
A one-hour television special, entitled
Images of the Civil War - The Paintings of Mort Künstler,
was shown on the A&E network on April 30, 1993. It was
the first television show featuring one artist’s work on the
Civil War.
His reputation for both accuracy and
artistic mastery earned Künstler a commission from the U.S.
Postal Service in 1992 to do a painting of the Buffalo Soldiers.
The stamp was issued in April of 1994.
Other books featuring Künstler’s art
include Jackson and Lee - Legends in Gray, with text
by James I. Robertson, Jr., Images of the Old West - The
Paintings of Mort Künstler with text by Dee Brown, Mort
Künstler’s Civil War - The North and Mort Künstler's
Civil War - The South, Mort Künstler's Old West - Cowboys,
and Mort Künstler's Old West - Indians which were published
by Rutledge Hill Press.
In 1998, the Nassau County Museum of
Art in New York gave Mr. Künstler a one-man exhbition entitled
The Civil War - The Paintings of Mort Künstler. More
than 130 paintings, drawings, and sculptures were gathered
together from around the nation. The show, which ran from
January 11th to March 1, 1998, attracted more than 30,000
visitors, surpassing all previous attendance records held
by a Picasso exhibit in 1997.
Governor James Gilmore officially declared
March 18, 1999 Mort Künstler Day in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Mr. Künstler and his wife, Deborah, were guests at a dinner
given in Mr. Künstler’s honor, at the Governor’s Mansion in
Richmond.
On July 7, 2000, Governor Gilmore officially
opened an exhibition at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond.
Called The Confederate Spirit - The Paintings of Mort Künstler,
it was the first one-man exhibition of a contemporary artist
ever held at the museum.
In September of 2000 a book by the
same name was published by Rutledge Hill Press with text by
famed Civil War historian James I. Robertson, Jr.
Hammer Galleries in New York City gave
Mort Künstler his twelfth one-man show which opened on December
5, 2000. Richard Lynch, director of the gallery, says, “We
extend our congratulations to Mort Künstler on one of his
most successful exhibitions at Hammer Galleries. The Confederate
Spirit marks yet another achievement in the career of
America’s premier historical painter.”
Probably no other artist has recorded
so many events in the history of America and certainly no
one has done them with such extraordinary authenticity and
drama as Mort Künstler.
