Unveiling spotlights a recently completed portrait commission, figurative work or upcoming exhibition from some of the best and most active members of the Portrait Society of America. This month Krystle Stricklin, guest writer for the Portrait Society, interviewed Michael Shane Neal about his recently completed portrait of U.S. Rep. John R. Lewis.

Unveiling

Michael Shane Neal: Portrait of Congressman John Lewis

By Krystle Stricklin

Nashville, Tennessee, artist Michael Shane Neal has recently completed a portrait of Georgia lawmaker and civil rights hero, U.S. Rep. John R. Lewis, in a stunning tribute to an extraordinary man. In the painting, Neal portrays the 17-term congressman standing resolute, with his left hand tucked in his pocket and his right hand gripping the corner of an abstractly rendered ledge. With parted lips, Lewis appears ready to speak—the perfect pose for a man whose powerful, earnest orations on human rights and civil liberties have often moved crowds to their feet.

Born in 1940, the son of Alabama sharecroppers, Lewis grew up in a segregated America where his daily experiences with racism would compel him to a lifelong fight for change. His many achievements and contributions to the civil rights movement are too numerous to list here in full. To name just a few, he was one of the original Freedom Riders, a founding member and chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and a leader in the Selma to Montgomery marches. In 1963, during the historic March on Washington, Lewis spoke alongside Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lincoln Memorial, on that unforgettable day in August when Dr. King shared with us his dreams of freedom and equality for all. In 2011, Lewis was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.Congressman John Lewis, oil, 54 x 36"

Known as the “godfather” of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Lewis fought against Congress for 15 years to establish the museum now located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Speaking at the museum’s opening in 2016, Lewis proclaimed, “As long as there is a United States of America, now there will be a National Museum of African American History and Culture. We gather here today to dedicate a building, but this place is more than a building, it is a dream come true.”

This painting is Neal’s second portrait of Lewis, having painted him in 2016, a work that now hangs in the Nashville Public Library. Lewis attended college in Nashville at Fisk University, a well-known historically black university, where he organized sit-ins at segregated lunch counters all around the city. On working with Lewis, Neal said, “I enjoyed an amazing journey painting Congressman Lewis. His life, especially as a civil rights activist is a remarkable example of resilience and unwavering determination. Such an honor to portray a man who bravely tackled so much injustice. As he used to tell his mother, when she asked him to stay out of trouble, ‘I told her that I got into a good trouble, necessary trouble.’” This portrait was commissioned by Jeffery and Cindy Loring, longtime Nashville residents and supporters of the congressman.

Neal is a sixth-generation native of Nashville, and has painted such notable figures as Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, U.S. Senator and Majority Leader Bill Frist and actor Morgan Freeman, among others. He currently maintains studios in Nashville and New York City. —