Paintings at Auction from the Private Collection of Mort Künstler

Three distinguished paintings from Mort’s private collection are going up for auction at Heritage Auctions on May 2. One of Mort’s original masterworks, Duty, Honor and Tears, has been prominently displayed in the Künstler home since it was painted in 2009. It will be available to the public for the very first time.

Beyond his own body of work, Mort has amassed one of the greatest collections of Golden-Age illustration in private hands. He has decided to offer to Heritage pieces by Dean Cornwell, dubbed the “Dean of American Illustrators” by Norman Rockwell, and Joseph Christian Leyendecker who played an extremely influential role in the careers of both Norman Rockwell and Mort Künstler. 

Heritage’s American Art Signature Auction will take place in Dallas on May 2 at 2pm CT.

MORT KÜNSTLER (American, b. 1931)

Duty, Honor and Tears, (Long Branch, Millwood, Virginia, May 24, 1862), 2009

Oil on canvas

28-3/8 x 40 inches (72.1 x 101.6 cm)

Signed and dated lower right: © M Künstler 09

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF MORT KÜNSTLER

Lot #68056

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JOSEPH CHRISTIAN LEYENDECKER (American, 1874-1951)

The Voice in the Rice, The Saturday Evening Post story illustration, June-July 1909

Oil on canvas

29 x 21 inches (73.7 x 53.3 cm)

Signed with monogram lower left: JC

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF MORT KÜNSTLER

Lot #68054

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DEAN CORNWELL (American, 1892-1960)

Burning Love, possible American Magazine story illustration, June 1942

Oil on Masonite

39 x 15-1/4 inches (99.1 x 38.7 cm)

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF MORT KÜNSTLER

Lot #68055

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