Mr. Kunstler comes to Winchester

View larger image Mort Kunstler, of Oyster Bay, N.Y., sits in front of a Civil War depiction, one of hundreds of paintings he has produced. He will be in Winchester on Nov. 20 signing copies of his latest book, “For Us The Living: The Civil War In Paintings And Eyewitness Accounts,” and one of his paintings, “Mrs. Jackson Comes to Winchester.” Courtesy photo Recommend This Print This Get E-mail News Alerts Buy Photos/Page Reprints * Breaking News If local news is breaking and you know about it: * Call Us: 800-296-5137 * E-mail Us * Upload Your Photos View larger image The cover of Kunstler’s latest book is shown. Courtesy photo View larger image Kunstler’s book features more than 200 paintings, including his most popular painting, “Until We Meet Again,” on page 34, which depicts General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson bidding his wife, Anna, goodbye in front of Jackson’s headquarters in Winchester in December 1861. Rich Cooley /Daily

Civil War artist releases best compilation of work to date

By Ben Orcutt -- borcutt@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- At coffee-table size, featuring more than 200 paintings across 244 pages, Mort Kunstler's new book, "For Us The Living: The Civil War In Paintings And Eyewitness Accounts," is the best compilation of his work to date, the artist said.

"I would say so," he said. "I would say almost without question, and the thing that I'm most proud of is not only did Bud Robertson write the text, but the forward is written by Harold Holzer, who is the vice president at the Metropolitan Museum of Art [in New York].

"We've had 19 books now I think, and this is sort of a summation of all my Civil War paintings, and it is large," Kunstler said during a recent interview from his home in Oyster Bay, N.Y. "Dr. James I. Robertson Jr., who's very popular in Winchester, wrote the text. There's a quote for almost every picture of someone [who is] a participant. The key is that it's only $35, which is amazing."

Kunstler, 79, will be at the King James Galleries at 161 Prosperity Drive in Winchester signing copies of the book from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 20.

In a quote furnished by Kunstler's staff, Robertson, the director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech, says that Kunstler may be the foremost Civil War artist of all time.

"He is the foremost Civil War artist of our time, if not all time, because of his devotion to truth and detail in history," Robertson says. "No one has better captured on canvas the sights, the feelings, the encompassing drama that formed the conflicts of the 1860s. Many gifted wielders of the brush have given us scores of Civil War illustrations, but only Kunstler has carried that skill to a level approaching perfection."

After Holzer received a copy of the new book, he wrote Kunstler a card.

"'Dear Mort,'" Kunstler read, "'I'm so grateful to have received the new book, not to mention what a pleasure and honor to be a part of it. It's really magnificent. Congratulations, Harold.'

"That's a pretty big deal for me," Kunstler said.

In addition to numerous paintings of Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, and scenes leading up to and during the Civil War, the book contains a number of paintings of scenes from the Northern Shenandoah Valley.

Winchester scenes dominate the area paintings, but there are also paintings of Long Branch in Millwood, Strasburg, the Wayside Inn in Middletown, Front Royal, Berryville, Kernstown, New Market and Cedar Creek.

"The most popular print I think I've ever done is called, 'Until We Meet Again,'" Kunstler said of a painting of Stonewall Jackson and his wife on page 34 of the book. "It takes place in front of Jackson's headquarters that you have in Winchester. In any case, the way I say popular from, what I hear on the secondary market, it's a very expensive print to try to get today."

The painting shows Jackson and his wife, Anna, saying goodbye in front of Jackson's headquarters in Winchester in December, 1861, as snow covered the ground.

In addition to signing his new book, Kunstler also will be signing prints of another snow scene based in Winchester, "Mrs. Jackson Comes to Winchester."

"Generally speaking the Winchester people that are my fans love my snow scenes," Kunstler said. "I guess everybody does, and this is not only a snow scene, but it takes place in Winchester, and I know Stonewall Jackson is a big favorite in Winchester. Little is known about this, and no one has ever painted it and I'm very, very excited about it. I think it's one of the best paintings I've ever done.

"Bud Robertson's famous Stonewall Jackson biography tells how Mrs. Jackson comes to Winchester on the midnight stage from Strasburg and pulls up in front of the Taylor Hotel, and it's [in] the snow on Dec. 23, [1862] for Christmas. So it shows the stage, and it describes even how she starts to go up the steps. You know the streets are kind of deserted and [Jackson] thought she might be on the stage. He takes her from behind, spins her around and showers her face with kisses is the way it's described, and this is from her diaries and the information. So the scene is really, it's very exciting. It's sort of up close. You see the stagecoach."

Donnie Shifflett, the manager of King James Galleries, says Kunstler is a regular when it comes to making appearances at the gallery, and the gallery is looking forward to his signing the print "Mrs. Jackson Comes to Winchester" on Nov. 20.

"He averages two to three times a year," Shifflett said. "We're extremely excited. It is the first snow scene of Winchester that Mort has done in over seven years, and we're really thrilled to have him here coming to do that simply because it is a Winchester image and is the annual snow scene, which is always one of the most popular prints Mort does."
Switching back to the book, Kunstler says it "will speak for itself. As a matter of fact, I'm looking at it and the back cover of the book is a Front Royal picture."

The painting is called "The Autograph Seekers of Bel Air," and features Lee coming upon two women who appear to be seeking his autograph.

"In the book itself you'll find in looking, you'll see the disassembling of the locomotives in the Martinsburg rail yard," Kunstler added. "There's one painting and that was done a long time ago. It was done in 1999. So it's 11 years ago, and at that time I said I was going to do three, and then I did the pulling them through the streets of Winchester and then they put them back on the tracks. The rail lines were cut off by the Northerners. After those two pictures, I was going to do the third of Strasburg, but I was worn out it was so difficult."

He said it takes a special knack to differentiate in a painting whether a train is being taken apart or put back together.

However, Kunstler is currently working on a painting of taking a train back to Strasburg.
"So I visited Strasburg and came up with an idea that I think is just as exciting as can be, [a] totally different view and that will be re-enacted," he said of an event planned for Memorial Day. "They're having a replica locomotive made right now, and they're going to take it from Cedar Creek on the old route, Valley Pike, right to Strasburg in front of the railroad museum and I think it's going to be a big deal. We'll be down there. We've promised to be there for that event, and we'll be signing the print for the first time that day. That's the one I'm working on right now."

For more information on Kunstler's book and print signing in Winchester, call King James Galleries at 678-9105. For more information on Kunstler's work, visit his website at www.mortkunstler.com.