THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS of San Francisco marked the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend with a new installation, bringing attention to iconic civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), and the uncertain times in which he became a national figure. “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” (1990), a bronze portrait bust by Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012), is now exhibited at the de Young Museum surrounded by paintings that explore the racism, unrest, and fear experienced by African Americans during the 1950s and 60s.
Originally conceived by Catlett for a major Congressional commission, the bust has gone virtually unseen for nearly four decades. The Fine Arts Museums, which includes the de Young and the Legion of Honor, announced the acquisition on Jan. 15, King’s birthday, and Catlett’s work went on view on Jan. 18.
Installation view of Elizabeth Catlett’s Bust of Martin Luther King, Jr., de Young Museum, San Francisco, 2025. Shown in background, from left, LARRY RIVERS, “The Last Civil War Veteran,” 1961 (oil on canvas, 82 1/2 x 64 1/2 inches / 209.6 x 163.8 cm); JACK LEVINE, “Birmingham ’63,” 1963 (oil on canvas, 71 x 75 inches / 180.3 x 190.5 cm; 78 x 82 inches / 198.1 x 208.3 cm, framed). | Photo by Randy Dodson, Courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
“Elizabeth Catlett is among the most consequential American artists of the 20th century, whose groundbreaking sculptures and prints bear witness to her lifelong advocacy for Black Americans and other historically marginalized communities,” Thomas P. Campbell, director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, said in a statement. “We are immensely proud to make Catlett’s extraordinary portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. accessible to de Young audiences. The bust encompasses a fascinating history that will significantly expand our ability to speak to Dr. King’s enduring impact on American life, and the politics involved in how he has been memorialized in public art.”
An artist and activist, Catlett is best known for her figurative sculptures and expansive printmaking practice, producing images focused civil rights issues and the experiences of Black American and Mexican women. Born in Washington, D.C., Catlett graduated from Howard University and became the first woman to earn an MFA in sculpture from the University of Iowa. At Iowa, she honed her sculptural skills and was encouraged by painter Grant Wood to make art about what she knew—the African American experience.
Active in Chicago, New Orleans, Virginia, and New York, in 1946, Catlett moved to Mexico where she spent the last six decades of her life. Despite her remove, Catlett remained invested in the Black liberation struggle in the United States. “Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist,” a major retrospective of Catlett was on view recently at the Brooklyn Museum and will open at the National Gallery of Art in Washington on March 9.
Catlett first envisioned the King bust for a Congressional commission. In 1982, Congress passed a measure calling for the procurement of a bust of King to memorialize his contributions to historic civil rights legislation. The competitive process was conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts on behalf of Congress. Nearly 200 artists entered the competition and, in 1984, the selection panel announced three finalists: Catlett of New York City and Mexico; John Wilson (1922-2015) of Boston, Mass.; and Zenos Frudakis of Philadelphia, Pa. Each artist created a maquette version of their work and the panel ultimately awarded the $50,000 commission to Wilson in 1985. Wilson’s King bust was unveiled in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in 1986.
“Elizabeth Catlett is among the most consequential American artists of the 20th century, whose groundbreaking sculptures and prints bear witness to her lifelong advocacy for Black Americans and other historically marginalized communities.”
— FAMSF Director & CEO Thomas P. Campbell
From left, Detail and full scale views of ELIZABETH CATLETT “Bust of Martin Luther King, Jr.,” 1990 (bronze with a green patina on a black marble plinth base; 18 x 13 3/8 x 11 1/4 inches / 45.72 x 33.973 x 28.575 cm). | Museum purchase, Barbro Osher Sculpture Garden Acquisition Fund. © Catlett Mora Family Trust / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Randy Dodson, Courtesy Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
The dark bronze bust Catlett produced has a textured surface and a green patina. It’s a powerful, traditional portrayal, featuring King’s head and shoulders. The San Francisco Chronicle first reported the acquisition and display of Catlett’s work at the de Young. The article included some observations about the results of the competition from the museum’s curator:
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Timothy Anglin Burgard, the distinguished senior curator, and Ednah Root, curator in charge of American art at FAMSF, told the Chronicle that the recorded comments from members of the judging committee (not attributed) called Catlett’s bust “the most powerful presentation of Dr. King” of the three artists, noting she “exaggerated his features slightly to convey the strength and purposefulness of a man depicted near the end of his life, with the creases and sagging flesh of a man who has lived through difficult and frustrating experiences.”
…Bugard believes that controversy surrounding Catlett’s renunciation of her American citizenship during the 1950s communist investigations and longtime residency in Mexico may have been among the reasons her work wasn’t chosen.
Catlett’s King bust was acquired by Rev. Douglas E. Moore (1928-2019) and Dr. Doris Hughes-Moore, Washington, D.C.-based collectors. The late Rev. Moore was active in the Civil Rights Movement, organizing a student sit-in at Royal Ice Cream parlor in Durham, N.C., on June 23, 1957, prior to the more well-known Greensboro lunch counter protests in 1960. Moore studied theology at Boston University, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees. His time at BU overlapped with King, who earned a Ph.D., in theology from the school in 1955. Moore later settled in Washington, where he was active in politics and business. A veterinarian, Dr. Hughes-Moore was the first Black woman to earn a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. She currently serves as director of Veterinary Services at Howard University College of Medicine.
Collectors of African American art, the Moores owned numerous works by Catlett. In 2016, they sold 63 limited-edition prints by Catlett at Weschler’s auction house in Washington. Many of the prints included personal inscriptions from Catlett dedicated to the Moores. Two years earlier, the Moores consigned two sculptures by Catlett to Weschler’s. The auction was held on Sept. 19, 2014. An undated, 14-inch female torso sold for $44,000. The King bust was estimated at $50,000-$70,000 and went unsold.
“The bust encompasses a fascinating history that will significantly expand our ability to speak to Dr. King’s enduring impact on American life, and the politics involved in how he has been memorialized in public art.”
— FAMSF Director & CEO Thomas P. Campbell
Installation view of Elizabeth Catlett’s Bust of Martin Luther King, Jr., de Young Museum, San Francisco, 2025. Shown in background, from left, JACK LEVINE, “Birmingham ’63,” 1963 (oil on canvas, 71 x 75 inches / 180.3 x 190.5 cm; 78 x 82 inches / 198.1 x 208.3 cm, framed); MIKE HENDERSON, “The Scream,” 1966 (oil on canvas, diptych, 121 x 142 inches / 307.3 x 360.7 cm), overall; 121 x 71 inches / 307.3 x 180.3 cm), each panel. | Photo by Randy Dodson, Courtesy Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
A decade later, the Fine Arts Museums acquisition was brokered by art dealer David Lusenhop of Cleveland, Ohio. After residing for years in a private collection, Catlett’s King bust can now be seen by the public at the de Young. “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” is on long-term view on the main level of the museum in the Modern and Contemporary Art galleries (Gallery 14). The sculpture is displayed on a new pedestal adjacent to paintings whose images and themes resonate with the legacy of King and the challenges and violence he faced.
The title of “Birmingham ’63” (1963) (1915-2010) by Jack Levine (1915-2010) references King’s direct action campaign protesting segregation in Birmingham’s stores. Five Black men are confronted by police dogs in the painting. As the collection note describes, Levine’s “use of white attack dogs, whose leashes are held by unseen figures outside the painting, involves viewers directly in this brutal act of aggression.” An ardent segregationist, Eugene “Bull” Connor was the public safety commissioner in Birmingham. The protests were pivotal. The violent response ordered by Connor brought national attention to the Civil Rights Movement.
“Forty years after its creation, [Catlett’s] majestic and commanding portrait of Dr. King retains its relevance for contemporary discourse regarding the ongoing struggles and sacrifices for civil rights.”
— Curator Timothy Anglin Burgard
“The Last Civil War Veteran” (1961) by Larry Rivers (1923-2002) is a loosely rendered, color-blocked painting based on a photograph published in Life magazine, accompanying a 1959 article titled “The Last Survivor of the Civil War.” The image depicts Walter Williams, a dying, 116-year-old veteran lying in bed at home in Houston, Texas. Large Confederate and Union flags are hanging on the wall above him. The opening line of the article notes that Williams is “[f]lanked by the two flags he has loved and a dress version of a Confederate uniform.”
Born in Marshall, Mo., Mike Henderson (b. 1943) moved West to study at the San Francisco Art Institute because the art schools where he came from were racially segregated. In California, he still met with racism and was regularly harassed by police walking home from school at night. Henderson painted “Scream” (1966) with his bare hands after living in San Francisco for a year and a half. In 2020, the artist said: “I wanted to create a big painting to release a scream that was inside of me. From the news of the Vietnam War, to the protests that were going on, and the police brutality—I wanted to express everything that was happening at that moment in the mid-1960s.”
The striking, truth-telling paintings are in good company. “Catlett’s sculptures and prints are notable for their consistent commitment to empowering their subjects—including people of color in general, and women in particular,” curator Timothy Anglin Burgard said in a statement. “Forty years after its creation, her majestic and commanding portrait of Dr. King retains its relevance for contemporary discourse regarding the ongoing struggles and sacrifices for civil rights.” CT
