The American Spirit: The Paintings of Mort Kunstler

by Mort Künstler, Rod Gragg, Henry Steele Commager

From traditions of Native Americans to depictions of the Civil War to the first man on the moon, more than 185 paintings by acclaimed American history artist Mort Kunstler are reproduced in full color in this beautiful volume. Commager's text provides an informative descriptive narrative.

236 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1985

About the author

Morton Künstler was an American artist known for his illustrative paintings of historical events, especially of the American Civil War. He was a child prodigy, who, with encouragement from his parents, became a skilled artist by the time he was twelve. Today he is considered the "best-known and most respected historical artist in the country."
Künstler began his career in the 1950s as a freelance artist, illustrating paperback book covers and men's adventure magazines. In 1965 he was commissioned by National Geographic to create what became his first historic painting. He also created posters for movies such as The Poseidon Adventure and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. And by the 1970s he was painting covers for Newsweek, Reader's Digest, and other magazines, with the bulk of his work during that period in advertising art.
While many of his early magazine illustrations were for public entertainment, Künstler eventually began creating military art. In 1977, his first major gallery exhibition brought new attention to his talents as a historical artist. By the 1980s he was acclaimed as America's foremost Civil War artist, and would eventually create over 350 Civil War paintings alone. Some of his paintings have changed opinions about the accuracy of early famous paintings by others, such as Emanuel Leutze's famous Washington Crossing the Delaware. Besides his Civil War paintings, he created historical art of the American Revolution through the Korean and Vietnam wars, along with paintings of World War II. He painted historical events such as the Oklahoma Land Rush and new immigrants on Ellis Island.
Collections of Künstler's work are published as limited-edition prints, and his artistic output places him at the forefront of contemporary historical realism. NASA made him their official artist for the Space Shuttle Columbia. In 1982, CBS-TV had him do a painting for the 3-part mini-series The Blue and the Gray, and in 1993 a one-hour television special, Images of the Civil War - The Paintings of Mort Künstler, was shown on the A&E TV network. He has received numerous honors and awards, and at least nine books are dedicated to featuring his artwork. Some experts see him as the next Norman Rockwell.

Reviews

[Olde American Spirit (Shannon) · Rating 3 out of 5]

☕ “The paintings that appear on these pages were done over a period of thirty years, many of them before 1977, done as illustrations commissioned by publishers and advertising agencies”


📚I received this book on a library loan by mistake. I had intended to get “The American Spirit” by David McCullough.

But it was a good mistake!

I enjoyed the incredible paintings by American history artist, Mort Kunstler. I am in awe of the details of each drawing and his talent.

This is a huge, heavy chunk of a book that I think would be a great, top-down, overview resource for the most popular events and conflicts in American History.

I’m a VERY visual person, and I loved seeing our nation’s stories through these beautiful images.

There are over 180 color painting pages and descriptive text from Commager. The images and text are chronological from Native peoples to the Space Shuttle Columbia.

There is also a biography of the artist at the end.

📚 CAUSE FOR PAUSE? I read captions slowly but did SKIM through the historical narrative and the paintings (he’s a beast at 240 enormous pages). So I am not at liberty to say if the history or inclusion of every single event is accurate or not.

📚 CONSIDER READING IF… you want a beautiful resource on American History as a coffee table book to reference often or a visual tool for teaching, I highly recommend it. 😀

MY RATING 🌟🌟🌟

This review will be included with in-depth thoughts on my Clean Reads YouTube Channel June reads video! 💙

☕📚

[Steve Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Künstler’s work idealizes his subjects, and on occasion reinforces the myths of American history. He paints Crockett at the Alamo swinging his rifle just like Fess Parker, coonskin cap and all, and in daylight. It was a night attack. Custer is on his hill surrounded by his valiant troops as they’re swarmed by Lakota and Cheyenne. Custer’s attack was an act of idiocy and a debacle where his troops panicked and ran.

He also romanticizes the Confederacy. Nowhere in this book will you see a slave on a plantation, nor will you see free blacks rounded up by Confederates and taken to the south as slaves during their 1863 invasion of Pennsylvania. Künstler’s book “The Confederate Spirit” must have sold well to adherents of the “Lost Cause” myth.

His work isn’t historical so much as its propagandistic.