A bronze bust of Martin Luther King Jr. was made by African-American artist

Charles Alston Charles Henry Alston (November 28, 1907 – April 27, 1977) was an American painter, sculptor, illustrator, muralist and teacher who lived and worked in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem. Alston was active in the Harlem Renaissance; A ...

in 1970, two years after

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

was assassinated. Alston received a commission from the Reverend Donald S. Harrington, of the Community Church of New York, to create a bust of King for $5,000. Five bronze busts were cast in 1970, each approximately high. One cast was acquired in 1974 for the collection of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...

's National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, but has been on long-term loan to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

since 2000, under the administration of

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

. It was displayed in the

White House Library The White House Library is on the Ground Floor of the White House, the official home of the president of the United States. The room is approximately and is in the northeast of the ground floor. The Library is used for teas and meetings hoste ...

, and was reputedly the first image of an African American on public display in the White House. The bust was moved to the

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval-shaped roo ...

in 2009 by

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

, where it was displayed along with a bust of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

. It replaced a bust of Winston Churchill by

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produce ...

that had been a loan to George W. Bush from the British

Government Art Collection The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in t ...

. In January 2017,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

placed another Epstein Churchill bust belonging to the White House in the Oval Office but also retained the bust of King. Alston's sculpture of Martin Luther King Jr. remained in a prominent position at the Oval Office when Joe Biden began his presidency in January 2021. It is currently displayed near a bust of Robert F. Kennedy, with both sculptures flanking the fireplace in the office. A second cast of Alston's bust of King was donated to the

National Museum of African American History and Culture The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in December 2003 and opened its permanent home in ...

in January 2016.

References

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery

NBC Washington, 14 July 2009
Smithsonian acquires Martin Luther King portrait bust for African American history museum
''The Art Newspaper'', 18 January 2016
A Rare and Important Sculpture of Martin Luther King Comes to the Smithsonian
smithsonian.com, 15 January 2016 {{Martin Luther King 1970 sculptures Art in the White House Bronze sculptures Busts in Washington, D.C. Memorials to Martin Luther King Jr. Sculptures of Martin Luther King Jr. Sculptures of men in Washington, D.C.

See also

References