Mort Kunstler's Comments:

It was a unique honor for me to be commissioned by the U.S. Postal Service in 1994 to design a stamp honoring the Buffalo Soldiers. At the time I did two preliminary studies for the stamp. One was horizontal, the other was vertical. The vertical image was chosen because the shape worked best for a postage stamp. I always liked the other image too, however, and I told myself that someday I would try to do another Buffalo Soldier painting based on that study.
Buffalo Soldiers of the West has allowed me to realize my dream of coming back to this very special subject. I chose to paint a cavalryman because the addition of the horse allows for a more interesting and dramatic subject matter. However, the name "Buffalo Soldier" applied to both cavalry and infantry - and both earned equal reputations for courage, sacrifice and professionalism.
I deliberately placed the soldier and his mount against a white background to create contrast and to immediately establish the fact that these brave and famous troops were black Americans. I think the contrast is also compatible with the vastness of the American West and the loneliness that faced a soldier on the frontier. All the equipment and horse tack in the painting were standard issue for U.S. troops in the Western campaigns of the era. To me, the story of the Buffalo Soldiers is one of the great sagas of our history - and I hope Buffalo Soldiers of the West will always be a reminder of these remarkable American troops.