FOR HIS FIRST COVER of The New Yorker, South African artist Pola Maneli made a portrait of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He remembers the civil rights leader as a family man, depicting him seated and surrounded by his four young children—Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter, and Bernice.
Maneli delivers a lovely portrait of the family in a domestic environment, employing a warm palette of brown tones against a backdrop of sage green patterned wallpaper. It’s a candid moment. The sheer joy expressed by the children and their father is palpable.
“Family Man (Martin Luther King Jr.),” by POLA MANELI. | The New Yorker, Jan. 16, 2023
While King and his namesake Martin III are dressed more casually, the younger children are wearing their Sunday best, indulging in ice cream treats. Meanwhile, the three oldest siblings, perhaps hyper aware of the public gaze, never lose sight of the viewer.
Featured on the front of magazine’s Jan. 16 issue, the illustration was published to coincide with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday in the United States.
Maneli worked for a while in advertising and he was also a teacher, but realized he wanted to focus full time on his own work. He’s previously made illustrations for New Yorker articles and has also been commissioned by Google, the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Nelson Mandela Foundation, The New York Review of Books, Sunday Times of London, and Mail & Guardian, among others. Last fall, he produced portraits for a series of commemorative Black history stamps for Jersey Island in the UK.
Françoise Mouly, art editor of The New Yorker, talked with Maneli about the cover image, iconic Black leaders, and his artistic practice.
“I was first introduced to [King] as an orator, so as a kid I didn’t really know anything about him other than the fact that he gave really stirring speeches,” Maneli said. “I feel like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., along with Nelson Mandela, was one of a few figures that young Black boys in South Africa were encouraged to emulate, even though much about the way they were presented to us was heavily decontextualized and redacted.”
“I feel like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., along with Nelson Mandela, was one of a few figures that young Black boys in South Africa were encouraged to emulate, even though much about the way they were presented to us was heavily decontextualized and redacted.” — Pola Maneli
Maneli chose to portray King in a private moment, as a family man, to shine a rare light on his humanity, rather than the standard narrative and ubiquitous image of him as a hero. The portrait is informed by family photos photographer Michael Ochs took of the Kings in the 1960s. In the background, the photographs by Ochs feature the patterned wallpaper the artist references in his cover illustration.
Reflecting on his King portrait Maneli said: “Part of the problem with memorializing people as symbols and ideas is that we risk obscuring parts of their humanity. The challenge of portraying as much of that humanity as possible really excited me, and I couldn’t imagine an environment where that would have been on display more than in his moments as a father.” CT
FIND MORE about Pola Maneli on his website
FIND MORE about the Jersey Black history stamps by Maneli
FIND MORE images of the King family by Michael Ochs via Getty Images
BOOKSHELF
Fully illustrated, “In the Spirit of Martin: The Living Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” features works by more than 150 artists, documenting a touring exhibition organized by the Smithsonian’s traveling exhibition service. Recent books about Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., include “The Arc of Truth: The Thinking of Martin Luther King Jr.” by Lewis V. Baldwin and “I Have a Dream,” a collectible edition of his famous speech with a new foreword by Amanda Gorman. For children, “Martin Luther King Jr.” is part of the Little People, Big Dreams series and was published earlier this month. “My Daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” is authored by Martin Luther King III. Also consider, “Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,” illustrated by Brian Collier. “I Have a Dream” explores King’s speech and is illustrated by New Yorker artist Kadir Nelson. Both books won Coretta Scott King Awards.
