The B.B. Washington Under Attack, paperback cover 1972

Mort Künstler made this paperback cover illustration of The B.B. Washington Under Attack with, I’m guessing, oil paints and a brush, maybe even an airbrush, given the cover’s smooth surface and the overall effect. I'm immediately drawn to the fiery reds and oranges consuming the scene. Can you feel the heat radiating from the painting? I can! Künstler, I imagine, felt a real sense of duty to the emotional and historical weight of the battle, using the medium of paint to bring history to life with drama and intensity. Look at the gestural swirls of color in the sky. The artist used dynamic brushstrokes and a vivid palette to convey movement and chaos, contrasting the warship with the sky and sea as if battling one another. I wonder if he was thinking of earlier war painters like Vereshchagin or Goya? Artists build on the ideas of others, and in this picture, I see Künstler speaking to the past through his vision of war.