Meeting Aurora artist Mort Kunstler

[ChrisW]

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Mort Kunstler this past Saturday. He's internationally known for his historical paintings, especially of the Civil War. But in his early days he was a prolific illustrator that provided Aurora with much of its exciting cover art. Probably best known to our crowd is "The Forgotten Prisoner". But he did many pop culture characters like The Man from Uncle and James Bond, historical figures like the Gladiator, knights and Jesse James, the Sport series with Johnny Unitas and Willy Mays, and MANY of the car covers! Mr. Kunstler was an early inspiration for me - as a young kid I would literally stare at his and Bama's covers (who happens to be a lifelong friend of Kunstler's) and dream of doing the same type of work some day.
His art has been used for movies including "The Hindenburg", "The Poseidon Adventure", and "Gods and Generals". And he's worked for all of the major publications of his day.
Mr. Kunstler was extremely gracious, and truly enthusiastic about seeing the old boxes and talking about them. And since this section is about Memorable Memorabilia, I'll mention that he cheerfully signed the stack of boxes I brought that featured his art.
He is now 78, but still producing beautifully rendered, highly collectible and significant works of art.
Here's a shot with an old favorite.

[Scatter]

WOW!! What a great weekend that must have been!!

[Mike Scott]

Here's some classic '60s Kunstler art from our "Gallery".

[MDG]

Kunstler also did a load of mens adventure mag covers--great stuff.

[michblk]

That's great stuff Chris!

BK

[gracebuster]

What a fantastic treat. How happy I am to hear that he is still enthusiastic about it all.

Was that at an art gallery? Looks like a happy guy. Imagine that he and James Bama and Basil Gogos are all still around. I'm sure that there are still some great illustrators out there whose worked touched us all so deeply.

[ChrisW]

Yea, Dan, this was at a gallery in Gettysburg dedicated to his work.
I was so impressed and heartened by his unabashed enthusiasm! He's the embodiment of what it takes to live a successful life - do what you love...

[artistguy]

Chris,

Thank you for posting this and what a joy it must have been to meet Mort... he's also one of my Illustrator heros, as is  Bama, Gogos, and the Hilderbrant Bros, sadly now just one Hilderbrant... Tim has passed on...

Thanks again for sharing this meeting!
Adam

[ChrisW]

You're welcome Adam.
Here's another shot of Mr. Kunstler with the first stack of boxes I brought in to have signed...

[westbatman]

Chris,

How cool is that! I love Mort's artwork. Your artwork isn't too shabby either.

Andy

[houseofdracula]

VERY COOL!