Featuring the work of one the most skilled and prolific illustrators of the twentieth century, Mort Künstler: “The Godfather” of Pulp Fiction Illustrators showcases more than 70 original drawings and paintings that graced the covers of American magazines, paperbacks, and weeklies throughout the 1950s and ‘60s.  These dramatic scenes portray daring heists, POW escapes, standoffs with wild animals, and military strikes, revealing the anxieties and deep-seated desires that gripped the nation during the Cold War era.
Organized in collaboration with The Heckscher Museum in Huntington, New York, this exhibition also explores Künstler’s collaborative efforts with Mario Puzo, which culminated in the first visual character studies of The Godfather’s notorious Corleone family.

These illustrations, six of which are included in the exhibition, first appeared in conjunction with an early version of the novel, giving readers a glimpse of the characters who would go on to become some of the most famous in American fiction and film. Vivid, provocative, and boldly kinetic, Mort Künstler: “The Godfather” of Pulp Fiction Illustrators offers museum visitors an exciting and unabridged journey through pop culture history.

Mort Künstler: “The Godfather” of Pulp Fiction Illustrators was organized by the Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY and is toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC

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Thumbnail Pictured:  Mort Künstler, Whale of a Tale, 1955, Oil on monotype on canvas, Courtesy of the Heckscher Museum of Art.

Pictured Above: Mort Künstler, Buried Alive for Four Months, 1961, Gouache on board, Courtesy of the Heckscher Museum of Art.