A bronzebust of Martin Luther King Jr. was made by African-American artistCharles Alston in 1970, two years afterKing was assassinated. Alston received a commission from the ReverendDonald 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 32 centimetres (13 in) high.
One cast was acquired in 1974 for the collection of theSmithsonian Institution'sNational Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, but has been on long-term loan to theWhite House since 2000, under the administration ofBill Clinton.[1] It was displayed in theWhite House Library, and was reputedly the first image of an African American on public display in the White House. The bust was moved to theOval Office in 2009 byBarack Obama, where it was displayed along with a bust ofAbraham Lincoln.[2] It replaced abust of Winston Churchill byJacob Epstein that had been a loan toGeorge W. Bush from the BritishGovernment Art Collection. In January 2017,Donald Trump placed another Epstein Churchill bust belonging to the White House in the Oval Office but also retained the bust of King.[3] Alston's sculpture of Martin Luther King Jr. remained in a prominent position at the Oval Office whenJoe Biden beganhis presidency in January 2021. It is currently displayed near a bust ofRobert F. Kennedy, with both sculptures flanking the fireplace in the office.[4]
A second cast of Alston's bust of King was donated to theNational Museum of African American History and Culture in January 2016.[5]