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By Phyliss Speidell
The Virginian-Pilot

	Mort Künstler and Wayne Stallings

One of the country's best known historical artists, Mort Künstler, will be in Smithfield Friday and Saturday to premiere his painting, "The New World" at the Imagine Art Studios on Main Street.

The subject of the painting hits close to home, the English landing at Jamestown in 1607. It shows the ship, the Susan Constant, moored in the background, with English soldiers standing guard as the leaders of the expedition first set foot on the banks of the James River.

It's a moment that has intrigued Künstler for more than five years, since a dinner in his honor at the governor's mansion in Richmond. Inspired after talking with then-Gov. James S. Gilmore III and his wife, Roxane, about the Jamestown 2007 celebration, the artist approached the Jamestown Commission about creating a series of paintings detailing the earliest history of the settlement.

"It was very difficult dealing with a commission, and finally I just gave up," Künstler said. "I realized I had to do something on my own if anything was going t happen."

Künstler, who lives in Oyster Bay, N.Y., said he went to Jamestown to talk to historians, draw countless diagrams and aim his camera at whatever scene he thought might help. "I would past my kids to the canvas if I thought it would help a painting" Künstler joked in a phone interview.

He learned more about firing a matchlock gun, details he used in painting one soldier blowing on the burning wick of his weapon, and another soldier using a gun rest to support the heavy weight of his matchlock.

Künstler learned how the boats would have been docked and how the anchor would have been thrown over. As he stood on the riverbank, he visualized the landing experience and the painting in its entirety.

"I climb into the picture in the morning and climb out at night, becoming the persons I'm painting," he said. "I realized that they would have landed first thing in the morning, with the sun coming up in the east. "I knew they would have used longboats to come ashore and, since they had been attacked by Indians the night before, they would have been very cautious and set up the perimeter."

There was a lot of conjecture as well as a lot of logical conclusions, Künstler said. "But it was exciting in the way it came to be. I consider it one of my best paintings."

Künstler completes six to eight major oil paintings a year, most oil paintings a year, most of which, he said, sell in the range of $50,000 to $75,000 each. He also does smaller, opaque watercolor pieces that sell for around $10,000 each. Most of his work is reproduced as prints, limited editions and popular editions. Prints of "The New World," as well as digital versions of it on canvas, known as Gicleé will be sold and signed by Künstler at the gallery on Saturday.

He said some people buy multiple copies of his prints - one to display and other to holds as an investment. That makes him a little uncomfortable, he said. He doesn't want to guarantee that his work will escalate in value. He believes people should buy art because they like it, not in the hopes of turning a profit.

His most popular print?

"The High Water Mark," the Battle of Gettysburg scene at the moment when the Southerners started to retreat, the moment he saw as the high water mark of the Confederacy. Two other best sellers include "Until We Meet Again," which portrays Gen. Stonewall Jackson saying goodbye to his wife in Winchester, Va., and "Confederate Snow," a snowy night scene in the Shenandoah Valley.

Künstler talent for creating realistic portrayals of complex scenes stems from his earlier careers as an illustrator for National Geographic magazine, and from after his graduation from the Pratt Institute in the 1950s, when he drew for men's adventure magazines of the era, such as True and Argosy.

He also has some well-known movie posters in his portfolio - the action posters for two 1970s movies, "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three," among others. "I seem to have a natural affinity for action-packed, complex scenes," he said.

When Künstler and the staff at Jamestown were unable to work out an agreeable site for a premiere and signing of "The New World" at Jamestown, he looked for a nearby dealer who sold his work. He found Wayne Stallings owner of Imagine Art Studios.

"We are extremely excited to have an artist of his caliber in our gallery, not only because he has earned the respect of Civil War collectors over the last 20 years, but also because of his contributions to the community," Stallings said.

For several years, Künstler created Christmas ornaments depicting scenes of the Civil War. More than $200,000 in proceeds from the sale of the ornaments, he said, went to the Timber Ridge School, a school for troubled boys, in Winchester. While in Smithfield, the artist will visit local schools on Friday.

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