Description
This is the final painting in the Legends in Gray series. I wanted it to be especially memorable. I finally decided to show Jackson and Lee up close and facing the viewer. The last time I painted Jackson and Lee in such an intimate setting was years earlier in The Generals Were Brought To Tears. In that painting, they were featured in profile. For Model Partnership I wanted them boldly facing forward, as if facing the future with the courage and devotion for which they were so well known. And I wanted them standing close together to emphasize the unique closeness of their working relationship.
I placed them in a late afternoon sun – for this scene was set just months before Jackson’s tragic death – and I wanted the subject lit by a warm glow. I’m pleased with the outcome: the sunlight strikes Jackson, Lee and their flag. The staff officers, like supporting characters in a great drama, remain appropriately in the shadow. The emphasis in this painting is the marvelous relationship that gave Jackson and Lee a model partnership – and made them Legends in Gray.
By: Mort Künstler
