Betsy Ross: The Stars and Stripes are Born 1977 29x30 - Framed Oil on Masonite with book

Year1977

Hand SignedLower Left 

Condition Excellent 

Framed without GlassGold Frame w/ Cream Mat and Gold Filet 

Purchased fromAuction House 2015 

Provenance / HistoryHeritage Auctions, Nov 16, 2015, Lot 68176; Hammer Galleries, New York, 1979; Saks Galleries, Denver, Colorado, 1979; Private collection, Oklahoma. EXHIBITED: Old Orchard Museum, Oyster Bay, New York, "Old Glory's Proudest Moments," June 10-September 8, 1978; U.S. Navy Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C., "Old Glory's Proudest Moments," February-April 15, 1979; Hammer Galleries, New York, "Mort Künstler: Epic Paintings of America," October 23-November 3, 1979. 

Story / Additional InfoBetsy Ross sewing the American flag, entitled "The Stars and Stripes are Born" lllustrated: M. Künstler, The New Nation: The Creation of the United States in Paintings and Eyewitness Accounts -- The Art of Mort Künstler, New York, 2014, pp. 66 and 188, illustrated. 

Certificate of AuthenticityHeritage Auctions, Nov 16, 2015 

Additional InformationVery Motivated 

LID178064

Mort Kunstler - United States

Art Brokerage: Mort Kunstler American Artist: 1931. Mort Künstler is an American artist known for his illustrative paintings of historical events, especially of the American Civil War. Today he is considered the "best-known and most respected historical artist in the country." Künstler began his career in the 1950s as a freelance artist, illustrating paperback book covers and men's adventure magazines. In 1965 he was commissioned by National Geographic to create what became his first historic painting. He also created posters for movies such as The Poseidon Adventure and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. And by the 1970s he was painting covers for Newsweek, Reader's Digest, and other magazines, with the bulk of his work during that period in advertising art. While many of his early magazine illustrations were for public entertainment, Künstler eventually began creating military art. In 1977, his first major gallery exhibition brought new attention to his talents as a historical artist. By the 1980s he was acclaimed as America's foremost Civil War artist, and would eventually create over 350 Civil War paintings alone. Besides his Civil War paintings, he created historical art of the American Revolution through the Korean and Vietnam wars, along with paintings of World War II. He painted historical events such as the Oklahoma Land Rush and new immigrants on Ellis Island. NASA made him their official artist for the space shuttle Columbia. Some experts see him as the next Norman Rockwell. Listings wanted.