Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed on the third Monday of January, honoring the Civil Rights leader known for his advocacy of peace and equality since it was established as a federal holiday in 1983. Coinciding with this year’s inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump, whose controversial statements and policies have heightened racial tensions, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco have unveiled a significant acquisition celebrating King’s legacy.
The museum, which includes the de Young and the Legion of Honor, is now exhibiting ‘Bust of Martin Luther King, Jr.’ (1990) by renowned African-American and Mexican artist Elizabeth Catlett. This bronze sculpture, on public display for the first time since its creation, originated from the private collection of the late civil rights leader Reverend Douglas E. Moore, a Boston University classmate of King and an early participant in student sit-ins.
Catlett crafted the sculpture in 1984–85 for a National Endowment for the Arts competition aimed at commissioning a King statue for the Capitol’s Statuary Hall. Although her entry did not win, losing to Massachusetts artist John Woodrow Wilson, it now finds a permanent home at San Francisco’s de Young Museum. It is featured alongside other civil rights-related artworks, including Jack Levine’s painting ‘Birmingham ’63’ (1963) and Thornton Dial’s assemblage ‘Blood and Meat: Survival For The World’ (1992).
Timothy Burgard, a curator at the de Young Museum, shared with Hyperallergic that the bust is positioned at eye level, matching King’s height of five-foot-seven. It joins Catlett’s other works in the museum, such as the linoleum print ‘I’m Sojourner Truth, I Fought for the Rights of Women, as Well as Blacks’ (1947) and the mahogany sculpture ‘Stepping Out’ (2000).
Burgard described Catlett’s depiction of King as ‘fierce, powerful, and strong,’ noting the inclusion of a robe as a nod to King’s ministerial role. He emphasized that in today’s context, amid movements like Black Lives Matter, King’s message of social and economic justice resonates even more deeply with contemporary audiences.
