Mort Künstler, whose meticulously researched and dramatically composed paintings of American historical events, especially of the Civil War, made him one of the country’s most prominent historical artists, died on Feb. 2 in Rockville Center, NY. He was 97.

Mr. Künstler developed a sense of dramatic realism early in the 1950s as an illustrator for pulp novels and men’s adventure magazines. He refined his mainstream commercial appeal working for top ad agencies and magazines like National Geographic, where he learned the importance of conducting extensive historical research before ever dipping a brush in paint.

Mr. Künstler’s paintings have joined the permanent collections of dozens of museums, and he had scores of solo shows in galleries and museums across the country.

Harold Holzer, a Civil War expert and author, described Mr. Künstler in an interview as “both a scholar of the paintbrush, and a painter of scholarship…a master storyteller with an eye for color and character, drama and detail.”