Mort Künstler's Gift to Walter Reed Honors Troops

December 4, 2007
Newsday.com

Mort Künstler of Cove Neck, considered by many to be the top historical artist in the country, is something of a soft touch for noncommercial organizations trying to raise money.

After 9/11, he donated prints of an American flag painting to the Red Cross and raised $250,000. And for more than a decade, he has allowed the Timber Ridge School for troubled boys in Virginia to use his images on Christmas ornaments, bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So when the wife of an injured soldier asked Künstler several months ago if he could help decorate the dreary, blank halls of a newly refurbished building at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., used by convalescing troops, the artist responded in characteristic fashion.

I said 'Yes, it would be an honor,'" Künstler recalled. "I'm not a warmonger, and I'm not in favor of the Iraq war but I certainly think these guys should be cheered up in any way possible."

So Künstler, who remembered the scandal that broke earlier in the year about deplorable conditions for some patients at the hospital, arranged to donate at cost 31 prints of military scenes for the first floor of the building, hopefully by Christmas. And later he will provide another 30 for the second floor and possibly more for a second building. Because of the popularity of his work, Künstler typically would make tens of thousands of dollars for reproductions like these.

"It will give the soldiers a great feeling of being honored and will give them a sense of their own history and membership of an elite club of historic warriors," said Künstler's contact at the hospital, Maj. Steve Gventer, one of three company commanders in the Warrior Transition Brigade, composed of about 250 wounded soldiers and more than 40 staff members. "The paintings give a very patriotic and historical look at the United States, showing not only the Civil War, which Mort's famous for, but also across the spectrum of history."

The project started with a conversation between Gventer and Linda Rasnake, whose husband is a soldier. He had back surgery at Walter Reed and became part of the transition unit, which moved into the building in March.

Building 38, the two-story brigade headquarters where the injured men spend a lot of their time on administrative matters, had been renovated and renamed Vaccarro Hall to honor Cpl. Diangelo Vaccarro of upstate New York. He was killed after he won two silver stars and was wounded twice as a combat medic in Iraq.

"She said, 'I want to do something to help,'" Gventer said. "'They're moving into this new building and there's nothing on the walls. What can we do?' I said 'Maybe we can get some kind of artwork.'"

Rasnake suggested contacting three artists who are well known for their military art to ask them to donate patriotic-themed paintings showing soldiers who have made sacrifices throughout American history. She is now employed by the Army as a family readiness support assistant for the brigade that handles the needs of soldiers and their families.

Rasnake said she thought of Künstler because "his love for the military is the first thing that struck all of us. He is a very genuine man; you can see that in his painting."

Gventer said, "Mort was the only one of the three that sent anything back. Within three days, he had sent a letter back saying, 'I'm interested.'"

The specific proposal was worked out when Gventer and two other officers visited Künstler at his Cove Neck studio. The artist said he could provide free prints on paper. "But I felt if this was something to be proud of, it would be great to make them look like originals," Künstler said.

So he offered to have special laser-printed giclée reproductions made on canvas. And the Walter Reed Society, a civilian support group, agreed to pay to reproduce the paintings, which would have a retail value of around $30,000 if sold commercially.

The reproductions don't need to be under glass, Künstler said, and "the layman would look at it and think it's an original."

To get the project off the ground, Künstler, who will supervise the installation of the prints, donated a canvas print of "This We'll Defend," a portrait of a soldier in front of a flag. It already has been installed in the conference room at Vaccarro Hall.

Half of the other 30 images will be scenes of the Civil War for one wing, with the other 15 depicting other eras of military history.

"We're trying to make it appeal to a broad cross-section of the Army today," Künstler said. He added that the donated artwork will include portraits of black, Hispanic and female soldiers, such as the black 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment during the Civil War.

The second phase of the project will be 30 more reproductions underwritten by the Walter Reed Society for the second floor. The artist and Gventer then hope to find veterans' groups to pay for reproducing additional works for Abrams Hall, where single soldiers live.

"It's very exciting for me to take all of my pictures, reproduce them in a very fine style and have the military enjoy them," Künstler said. "If they feel better when they see these pictures, that's great."

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