Image size: 18 1/2" x 26 1/2" Edition size: 1150 S/N Issue price: SOLD OUT FROM THE ARTIST & PUBLISHER (Only available on our secondary market--we should be able to locate it for you, if we do not already have it in stock--call us for price and availability---800-237-6077) It was the morning of great dreams and the day of high hopes. The night before, a gala ball had celebrated Southern nationhood, and had honored the men in gray who would go to war the next day. Hours later, as the soft morning light bathed a new day, it was time for goodbyes. Now, young men in new uniforms shared farewells with loved ones. It was a bittersweet moment: departure was difficult, but ahead awaited glory, honor and the fortunes of war. It was a scene reenacted throughout America - both in the North and the South. Soon, however, the romance of the moment would disappear. Ahead lay the realities of war. More than 5,000 would fall at First Manassas. Another 23,000 would be lost at Sharpsburg, and more than 50,000 would become casualties of war at Gettysburg. For the present, however, Americans were basking in a patriotic glow. The young men of the North were preparing to fight for the Union. Southerners were rushing to arms to defend their homeland. The ball was over, and ahead lay the wages of war. Yet, in the fleeting softness of a new day and the gentle squeeze of a tender embrace, there was a brief and shining moment that would be remembered always. Mort Künstler's Comments Four years ago in 1997, my limited edition print, Moonlight & Magnolias was released. The large edition sold out almost immediately and became one of my most popular prints. Since then, many have asked when I would paint a similar work. In response, I decided to do a sequel to Moonlight and Magnolias, which was set at a secession ball at Arlington plantation near Providence, Louisiana. The day after the ball provides a wonderful scene. It is the morning of April 7, 1861. In contrast to the moonlight of the first picture, I painted bright sunlight. The guests are leaving Arlington Plantation, so their carriages are seen waiting. The women are fashionably attired in their day dresses, just as they were properly dressed in their beautiful gowns the night before. The men are wearing their new uniforms and are preparing to leave for war. The same flags that were displayed at the ball - Louisiana flags and the Confederate first national flag - are still hanging from the upstairs railing of the plantation house. I purposely placed the house at a different angle, and it, of course, looks magnificent from any point of view. By combining the blooming azaleas and magnolias, the bright sunlight and the blue sky with puffy white clouds, I felt I could capture the optimistic feelings of that time. I chose to emphasize the theme of high hopes and departures by painting the presentation of a going-away gift as a central focus. Of course, reality would set in - the white clouds would symbolically become the dark clouds of war - and life at Arlington Plantation would become a test of wartime endurance. At the moment, however, these southerners - like their counterparts in the North - were excited and enthralled with the romantic notion of war. This was the reality of the war in April of 1861, and it would prove to be an unforgettable but brief moment in a long, hard conflict. |
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