New Kunstler Print

Mort Kunstler’s latest print beautifully captures a crucial moment in the life of the Army of Northern Virginia.  The scene takes place in Orange County, Virginia following the army’s defeat at Gettysburg.  Kunstler vividly depicts the men in the army marching down main street, while Lee, Longstreet, and A.P. Hill discuss something.  As you can see, this is the exact moment in the war when both Lee and Hill simultaneously gestured with their right arms.  Longstreet, as usual, looks befuddled.  It’s hard to believe that this is the first print to depict this moment in the war.  If you are in the area you can meet Kunstler in person on Saturday at the Orange County Courthouse.

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28 comments… add one
  • J. Westbrook Sep 29, 2010 @ 22:52

    What kind of historian places one shred of validity of an artists vision of an event he never witnessed and then interjects his biased opinion as being of worth? So much for the New Jersey school system.

    “Longstreet, as usual, looks befuddled. It’s hard to believe that this is the first print to depict this moment in the war. ”

    So much for your scholarship. Good grief. What’s next the befuddled Lincoln when he said “Root Hog or Die”

    Oh that’s right, that doesn’t fit in your PC “civil war fantasies”.

    Good grief…no wonder are kids are so stupid…consider the source. Great union no doubt where results are nil and the ignorance institutionalized. Those who can, do….those who cannot ….

    Speaks for itself.

    • Kevin Levin Sep 30, 2010 @ 1:06

      Relax J., it’s just a silly little painting. I like the phrase, “PC civil war fantasies.”

  • Ryan Sep 25, 2010 @ 18:25

    Hello, this is the first time I’ve seen this blog site. I’m glad to see others share my opinion of Kunstler! I’d take a Strain, Reeves, Troiani, any day over any Kunstler painting. Unless of course I want a print of Martin Sheen or Robert Duvall hanging on my wall!

  • MississippiLawyer Sep 17, 2010 @ 10:10

    Wait…you have a copy of that aftermath at Franklin painting?…..kinda depressing painting, no?

    • Kevin Levin Sep 17, 2010 @ 10:17

      Nothing says “Welcome to my home” like the aftermath of Franklin print. 😀

      • Woodrowfan Sep 17, 2010 @ 10:59

        it lacks something. Maybe if he added a puppy with big sad eyes.

        • Kevin Levin Sep 17, 2010 @ 11:16

          No, it needs at least 5 more Confederate flags and a southern belle decked out in a beautiful pink dress.

          • Marianne Davis Sep 17, 2010 @ 11:51

            How could you have missed the coup de grace, a black Confederate?

            • Kevin Levin Sep 17, 2010 @ 12:08

              Where do you see that?

              • Marianne Davis Sep 17, 2010 @ 17:33

                I didn’t, darn it, but I can dream. I think for every five extra Confederate flags, or three rebel generals holding Bibles, there ought to be a black Confederate

  • Eric Jacobson Sep 17, 2010 @ 8:24

    I happen to have that very print hanging in my den and the barn is actually a cotton gin, for whatever that is worth. Also, I should add that it my only Kunstler print!!!! The rest I own are Troiani, Reeves, and Strain. 🙂

  • Woodrowfan Sep 17, 2010 @ 8:22

    Are there any popular artists who concentrate on UNION soldiers and generals? it seems like most every painting I see has Confederates…

    • Robert Lee Baker Sep 30, 2010 @ 11:55

      Kunstler actually does a lot of Union too. Sherman, Grant, Chamberlain, irish brigades. he has a lot of them.

  • MississippiLawyer Sep 17, 2010 @ 7:25

    No kidding. The perspective is all messed up in that one. That one is called “Bringing Cleburne In”.

    “Johnny what do you want for Christmas”

    “I want the Kunstler painting of a dead Patrick Cleburne surrounded by the corpses of the Army of Tennessee at Franklin”

  • MississippiLawyer Sep 17, 2010 @ 6:41

    Hell my central question is why he even paints some of these. Why would someone purchase a stale and pointless painting like that. Or who would actually purchase THIS:

    http://www.mortkunstler.com/product_images/large_31_2.jpg

    • Kevin Levin Sep 17, 2010 @ 6:56

      Thanks for the link. This one is actually poorly planned. Notice the size of the horse compared to the size of the barn and the wounded being carried to the ambulances. And why does that one soldier insist on carrying a flag? Shouldn’t he be pitching in and helping with the dead and wounded? I’ve never seen this particular image.

      • Robert Lee Baker Sep 30, 2010 @ 11:55

        that’s “Bringing Cleburne In”. Battle of Franklin depiction. The barn is the Cotton warehouse that he died close to. The picture is supposed to be depicting the men bringing Cleburne in over the of devastation of that idiotic charge. I think the wagon is supposed to be in the foreground with the bodies while the “barn” is in the background.

    • Woodrowfan Sep 17, 2010 @ 8:23

      Is that the Gin House? is so, that might be one of my great-great uncles lying there…

  • David Rhoads Sep 17, 2010 @ 5:18

    It’s hard for me to imagine A.P. Hill looking that animated in a conversation with Lee right after the Gettysburg campaign. But what really gets me about this painting is how neither Hill’s or Longstreet’s horse seems to have a head.

    • Kevin Levin Sep 17, 2010 @ 5:23

      That’s actually a problem with a number of his prints.

  • Tom Sep 17, 2010 @ 2:59

    I much prefer Kunstler’s earlier work: 🙂

    http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/652/mkunstler33.jpg

    • Kevin Levin Sep 17, 2010 @ 3:02

      Tom,

      That’s hilarious. Thanks for sharing the link.

      • Marianne Davis Sep 17, 2010 @ 5:20

        That Rose O’Neal Greenhow, who knew what was under all that crinoline!

  • Margaret D. Blough Sep 17, 2010 @ 2:48

    Nah! I think it’s Lee and Hill trying to figure out where the nearest men’s room is while Longstreet (who’s thinking “If they’d had the sense not to drink so d*&% much coffee this morning like I did we wouldn’t be standing here) waits.

  • TF Smith Sep 16, 2010 @ 20:06

    Given that is was Orange County, I think it went something like this:

    Jackson: Dude, no way we have to retreat!

    Longstreet: Way, dude. Meade was most harsh!

    Lee: Dudes, stop acting so negative – we must retreat from those less-righteous people!

    Traveller: Neigh, due!

  • MississippiLawyer Sep 16, 2010 @ 19:50

    Kunstler is terrible. Even Kunstler’s battle scenes are boring and his soldiers always look like reenactors, not real CW soldiers.

    Troiani is like the Beatles of Civil War art. I don’t know why anyone else even tries. As well researched as Troiani is and as artistically realistic as he is, I really think that his prints are as close as we’ll ever get to having a snapshot of what a civil war battle looked like.

    My favorite Troiani (Barksdale’s Charge):

    http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/8770/bdale.jpg

    I’m especially fond of that one because we had that flag (13th Miss Inf) in our collection when I worked at the Old Capitol Museum in Jackson, MS.

    • Robert Lee Baker Sep 30, 2010 @ 11:49

      Troiani….love his paintings of Cleburne.

  • Will Hickox Sep 16, 2010 @ 19:17

    Some historically-minded person has thankfully pointed out to Mort that A.P. Hill never actually wore a red shirt, but otherwise it looks like he used screenshots from “Gettysburg” to paint the figures.

    For a good laugh, check out his very immodest blog: http://blog.mortkunstler.com/

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