Silk Tie – Washington at Carlisle

100% Silk & Fully Lined

Size: Approximatley 58″ Long x 3 7/8″ Wide

Give the Civil War or American History buff on your shopping list the unique gift of a silk tie featuring the beautiful paintings of Mort Kunstler. Museum Artifacts has been the premier producer of historic and theme ties for about twenty years. This unique 100% silk tie beautifully features Mort Kunstler’s painting Dilger at Gettysburg. They make great gifts and you are sure to find one to fit any occasion!

Price: $29.50 / Each

Silk Tie – Lincoln

100% Silk & Fully Lined

Size: Approximatley 58″ Long x 3 7/8″ Wide

Give the Civil War or American History buff on your shopping list the unique gift of a silk tie featuring the beautiful paintings of Mort Kunstler. Museum Artifacts has been the premier producer of historic and theme ties for about twenty years. This unique 100% silk tie beautifully features Mort Kunstler’s painting Dilger at Gettysburg. They make great gifts and you are sure to find one to fit any occasion!

Price: $29.50 / Each

   Release date 2008
Limited Edition Prints
Image size: 18″ x 26″
Overall size: 23″ x 30″

350 Limited Edition Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Prints, Issue Price $225
50 Limited Edition Artist’s Proofs, Issue Price $350

100 Fredericksburg Edition Prints, Issue Price $225
10 Fredericksburg Edition Artist’s Proofs, Issue Price $350

Giclée Print on Canvas
Image Size: 17″ x 24″
50 Signature Edition Giclee print on Canvas, Issue Price $295
10 Signature Edition Artist Proofs Giclee print on Canvas, Issue Price $400

Image Size: 22″ x 32″
50 Classic Edition Giclee print on Canvas, Issue Price $575
10 Classic Edition Artist Proofs Giclee print on Canvas, Issue Price $650

“We talked the matter over and could have settled the war in thirty minutes had it been left to us.” So said a Southern solider after he and a Northern counterpart sat on a log between the lines and enjoyed an unauthorized but friendly chat. As Americans, Johnny Reb and Billy Yank had far more in common than typical combatants. That familiarity was frequently revealed in friendly contact between the lines. Countless episodes of enemy soldiers helping each other occurred during the war. During the battle of Kennesaw Mountain in 1864, a ground fire threatened wounded Northern soldiers lying between the lines – until a Confederate officer stood up, exposing himself to enemy fire, and shouted, “We won’t fire a gun until you get them away.” An impromptu cease-fire followed immediately while Federal troops removed their wounded – then the battle resumed.

Following the battle of Second Manassas, two Confederate soldiers were carrying a wounded friend through the darkness when they were challenged by a sentry who demanded identification. “We are two men of the Twelfth Georgia, carrying a wounded comrade to the hospital,” they shouted back, only to learn they had accidentally crossed into Federal lines. “Go to your right,” the Northern sentry called out, directing the men back toward the Southern lines. “Man, you’ve got a heart in you,” hollered one of the retreating Southerners.

When the opposing lines were close enough, and the shooting had temporarily stopped, army musicians sometimes engaged in battles of the bands. On the banks of the Rappahannock River near Fredericksburg, Virginia, Southern soldiers listened admiringly to a Northern band performance during the winter of 1862. When it concluded, a Johnny Reb called out, “Now give us some of ours” – and the Yankee band obliged with a rendition of “Dixie.” When the band concluded, soldiers from both sides broke into a melancholy chorus of “Home, Sweet Home.”

The lines were so close on the Rappahannock during the winter of 1862-3, that contact between Northern and Southern soldiers became commonplace. They often met on an island in the river, where Confederate troops exchanged Southern tobacco for the coffee ration issued to Northern soldiers. When officers discouraged contact, they would make their exchanges by small, hand-made boats that the soldiers called “fairy fleets.” Sometimes they met to play cards; other times they just exchanged stories. The war was the real enemy, they concluded, and not each other – and if they had to go back to shooting at each other the next day, it wasn’t personal for many of them. For most, the camaraderie became genuine reconciliation at war’s end, and when Johnny Reb and Billy Yank chanced to meet after the war, it was often with obvious friendship and mutual respect. “My friend, the enemy,” veterans of the war came to call each other – with the understanding that, Northern or Southern, they were Americans all.

Mort Künstler’s Comments

I always look for subjects to paint that have never been done. With snow scenes, I always try to develop a different color scheme. Both goals are difficult to achieve, but I believe it has happened with “My Friend, the Enemy.” The location and the time of day enabled me to paint a different color scheme – and no modern artist of note has painted a scene quite like this one.

“My Friend, the Enemy” is set on Virginia’s Rappahannock River near Fredericksburg following the terribly bloody battle that occurred there a few weeks earlier. As if they were weary of the war’s inhumanity, Southern and Northern soldiers began meeting with each other between the lines. Such fraternization was forbidden on both sides, but the soldiers did so anyway that winter. They met to play cards, exchange gossip and barter Northern coffee for Southern tobacco. The painting is set on the side of the river occupied by General Ambrose Burnside’s Army of the Potomac. A handful of Confederate soldiers from General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia have made their way across the river to trade with the Northern troops. The soldiers are cautious, but trusting – and in the background other soldiers are making exchanges with a rigged-up, hollow log that serves as a ferry for their bartered items.

It’s the unique, peaceful and colorful kind of subject that I enjoy painting. It’s based on careful research, of course, but to me its appeal is the historical fact that makes the Civil War so fascinating and compelling – the human element. This terrible conflict was really a grand-sized family feud. Like these soldiers, most Americans North and South held nothing personal against each other – they were all Americans caught up in an awful war. That’s how the nation was restored when the fighting ended: Despite the horrendous losses, the best people on both sides had always viewed their counterpart in blue or gray as “My friend, the enemy.” That reconciliation, hinted at in this painting, is the great and wonderful story of the American Civil War.

Purchase this Print:
For framing and personalized service or to purchase a regular signed and numbered print, please contact the gallery Toll Free 877-334-0513 or email us at info@mkunstlergallery.com

Rush To The Summit

Limited Edition Print
350 Limited Edition Prints, Issue Price $225
50 Artist’s Proofs, Issue Price $350

Signature Giclee Print
50 Signature Edition Giclees, Issue Price $295
10 Signature Edition Artist’s Proof Giclees, Issue Price $400

Classic Giclee Print
50 Classic Edition Giclees, Issue Price $495
10 Classic Edition Artist’s Proof Giclees, Issue Price $650

Premier Giclee Print
Image Size: 25″ x 38″
15 Premier Edition Giclees, Issue Price $995
5 Premier Edition Artist’s Proof Giclees, Issue Price $1,250 Sold Out

Purchase this Print:
For framing and personalized service or to purchase a regular signed and numbered print, please contact the gallery Toll Free 877-334-0513 or email us at info@mkunstlergallery.com

New Release

“Rush To The Summit”

July 18, 2009

10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

MKünstler Gallery

10 York Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325

Toll Free: 1-877-334-0513

Old Mill, Strasburg, Va., June 1, 1862

Release Date 2009

Limited Edition Print
Image Size: 18″ x 27″
Overall Size: 23″ x 31″
350 Limited Edition Prints, Issue Price $225
50 Artist’s Proofs, Issue Price $350

Signature Giclee Print
Image Size: 16″ x 24″
50 Signature Edition Giclees, Issue Price $295
10 Signature Edition Artist’s Proof Giclees, Issue Price $400

Classic Giclee Print
Image Size: 20″ x 30″
50 Classic Edition Giclees, Issue Price $575
10 Classic Edition Artist’s Proof Giclees, Issue Price $650

Premier Giclee Print
Image Size: 25″ x 38″
15 Premier Edition Giclees, Issue Price $995
5 Premier Edition Artist’s Proof Giclees, Issue Price $1,250 SOLD OUT

None could outmarch them. Some believed none could outfight them.

They were known as “Jackson’s Foot Cavalry” — so called for their ability to cover more than 30 miles a day – cavalry distance – on the march. Virginians all, they formed a division of troops under the command of General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in 1862. In March of 1862, they numbered about 10,000 and had orders to defend the Valley from Northern forces four times their size. General Nathaniel Banks and 40,000 Federal troops had been moved into the Valley to battle Jackson while General George B. McClellan moved his giant Federal army toward the Confederate capital of Richmond. After driving away Jackson’s force, Banks was supposed to withdraw toward Washington, D.C. and support McClellan’s army as needed.

Initially, Banks’ army pursued Jackson southward through the Valley. Believing Jackson had been driven away, Banks left General James Shields and a division of troops near Winchester, Virginia, and began to move the rest of his army toward Richmond as planned. Jackson, however, led his “foot cavalry” army in a rapid forced march back through the Valley, and struck Shields a surprise blow at the battle of Kernstown on March 23. Although Shields’ larger force eventually prevailed, Jackson won a strategic victory by keeping Northern forces tied down in the Valley. Reinforced by 7,000 more troops, he soon attacked again, this time defeating Federal forces under Generals Robert Schenk and Robert Milroy at the battle of McDowell on May 8. At Front Royal on May 23, he attacked Banks, forced him to retreat to Winchester, then decisively defeated him. Banks made a hasty retreat back north and across the Potomac River. In response, Washington authorities moved a large Federal force into the Shenandoah Valley to punish Jackson.

It was not to be. Stonewall had lived in the Valley and he knew the country intimately. His “Foot Cavalry” was already moving by late May, and Jackson escaped a trap set for him near Strasburg. What then unfolded was one of the most brilliant operations of the Civil War: Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign. Although threatened by superior Northern forces on two sides, Jackson defeated General John C. Fremont at Cross Keys on June 7, and General James Shields at Port Republic on June 9. Both Federal armies retreated. Meanwhile, General Robert E. Lee turned back McClellan’s army in the Seven Days Campaign. Lee had saved Richmond, and Jackson was master of the Valley. In 38 days, his “Foot Cavalry” marched approximately 400 miles, engaged in six battles, defeated five Northern generals and prevented thousands of Northern reinforcements from attacking Richmond. Jackson and his “Foot Cavalry” had become the stuff of legend.

Mort Künstler’s Comments

I have never tired of painting General Stonewall Jackson. He was such a remarkable commander, such a fascinating man, and he did so much that I will never run short of extraordinary exploits to paint. Each painting has its own distinctive challenges, and offers its own set of opportunities. I’ve painted scenes from his brilliant Valley Campaign on several occasions, but I really wanted to paint a study of his famous “Foot Cavalry” with Jackson at their center.

Being able to use the scenery of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley as a backdrop is always a bonus – and especially in this picture. There’s a wonderfully picturesque old gristmill near Strasburg, Virginia – now preserved as an inn and restaurant called the Old Mill Tavern. Jackson and his “Foot Calvary” marched by it during Jackson’s Valley Campaign. What better background for Jackson and his soldiers than this wonderful old historical landmark?

To make certain that this painting was distinctive from any other work I’ve done of Jackson, I painted an entirely new angle for Jackson and his mount “Little Sorrel.” Stonewall Jackson, “Little Sorrel” and the old gristmill made a perfect combination. In fact, you can drive by Old Mill Tavern in Strasburg, and you’ll recognize the view from the Old Valley Pike – the same pike used by Jackson and his “Foot Cavalry.”

The date of the painting provided a unique color scheme. For almost a week prior to May 31, 1862, the weather had been rainy. This actually allowed me the opportunity to use a different color scheme than anything I’ve painted with Jackson in the past.

The final piece of the puzzle was how to depict the army. Jackson’s famous “Foot Cavalry” was a colorful mix of young boys in ill-fitting uniforms and savvy veterans – all understandably road-worn from their incredible forced marches. At Strasburg, where they’re here depicted, they escaped a Northern trap – to survive, achieve victory in Jackson’s “Valley Campaign” and earn a level of fame unsurpassed by any troops on either side in the Civil War. They and their commander were quite extraordinary – and they made fascinating subjects for me.

Purchase this Print:
For framing and personalized service or to purchase a regular signed and numbered print, please contact the gallery Toll Free 877-334-0513 or email us at info@mkunstlergallery.com

Discover the art of beautiful correspondence with our elegantly appointed Deluxe Boxed Note Cards. Presented in a hinged keepsake box with envelopes and coordinating seals.
Slightly larger than regular note cards, this deluxe version also includes envelope seals.
- Beautiful full-color artwork inside and out
- Elegant and memorable
- Printed on heavy, premium stock paper
- Exquisite keepsake box
- 16 cards, envelopes and matching seals
- Measures 4-7/8″ x 6″

Price: $12.95 / Each

500 Pieces

Finished Size: 18″ x 24″

Your family and friends will appreciate this NEW Jigsaw Puzzle that features a patented easel style, pop-up cover for upright viewing. This creates a wonderful year-round, all-occasion gift.

• Patented box design with an attached easel style cover
• Easy reference; puzzle art displays upright
• Sturdy precision cut, interlocking pieces
• Images selected for difficulty
• Requires minimal work space (18″ x 24″ finished size)
• Popular format (500 pieces)
• Portable; attached cover

Price: $14.00 / Each

To Purchase this Puzzle:
Please contact the gallery Toll Free 877-334-0513 or email us at info@mkunstlergallery.com