Fourth of July at Cove Neck by Mort Künstler Artist's print of oil painting: 26 x 18 inches. (Click image for blowup.)

Mort Künstler has been called "America's premier historical painter." 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.

In the early 1970s, Künstler's paintings began attracting the attention of serious art collectors. 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. 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. Images of the Civil War - The Paintings of Mort Künstler, with text by Pulitzer Prize winning author James McPherson, was published in 1992. Other books of his artwork include Gettysburg - The Paintings of Mort Künstler, Images of the Old West - The Paintings of Mort Künstler, Mort Künstler's Civil War - The North, Mort Künstler's Civil War - The South, Mort Künstler's Old West - Cowboys, and Mort Künstler's Old West - Indians.

A one-hour television special, entitled "Images of the Civil War - The Paintings of Mort Künstler", was shown on the A&E network in 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, issued as a stamp in 1994. In 1998, the Nassau County Museum of Art in New York gave Mr. Künstler a one-man exhibition entitled The Civil War - The Paintings of Mort Künstler.
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.

Oil on canvas is his preferred medium. Mr. Künstler enjoys helping out with worthwhile projects.

"This work was painted in celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the home owners, Helen and Charles Dolan. It was reproduced as a limited edition print and given as a gift to all the guests at the Dolans' 4th of July party in 2000."

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