At TIME we have always enjoyed the challenge of creating compelling cover portraits. Over the years, we’ve commissioned artists from Marc Chagall to Roy Lichtenstein to Andy Warhol; for this Person of the Year, creative director D.W. Pine reached out to Colin Davidson to make an oil painting of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “For me, it’s about the eyes,” D.W. says. “The realistic detail of his subjects’ eyes draws the viewer in closer to fully appreciate the sculptural use of his bold brushstrokes.” Davidson lives and works near Belfast; since 2010 his focus has been on grand-scale portraits, which have won many international awards. “I have become increasingly preoccupied, not with a sitter’s celebrity but more with their status as a human being,” says Davidson. “Although likeness is vital in my practice, it is my hope that a sense of the German Chancellor’s dignity, compassion and humanity is woven into the paint.”
We choose as Person of the Year the individual who has had the greatest influence, for better or worse, on the world and the news each year. The process invariably inspires a lively debate. While on occasion we have named groups, such as last year’s Ebola Fighters, and even objects (the Computer in 1982), we have not named an individual woman since Philippine President Corazon Aquino in 1986. “The label of Person of the Year tends to favor people with institutional power,” notes deputy managing editor Radhika Jones, who oversaw this issue. “In that sense, we’re not breaking with tradition. It’s a lot easier to make news from an address like the White House or the Vatican — or in this case, the Chancellery.”
I was reminded of the rich history of Person of the Year when I had dinner last summer with Ambassador Ken Adelman and saw his collection of signed covers. It includes Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan, Nelson Mandela and Vladimir Putin. He does not, however, have Queen Elizabeth II (1952); he was informed that the Queen only signs official documents.
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Photograph by Mark Mahaney for TIMEPortrait by Jason Seiler for TIMEPhotograph by Evgenia Arbugaeva for TIME2018: The GuardiansPhotographs by Moises Saman-Magnum Photos for TIMETIME Person of the Year 2017: The Silence BreakersBilly & Hells for TIME2016: Donald TrumpTIME2015: Angela MerkelTIME2014: The Ebola FightersTIME2013: Pope FrancisTIME2012: President Barack ObamaTIME2011: The ProtesterTIME2010: Mark Zuckerberg TIME2009: Ben Bernanke TIME2008: President Barack ObamaTIME2007: Vladimir PutinTIME2006: YouTIME2005: The Good Samaritans: Bill Gates, Bono, Melinda GatesTIME2004: President George W. BushTIME2003: The American SoldierTIME2002: The Whistleblowers: Cynthia Cooper, Coleen Rowley and Sherron Watkins TIME2001: Rudy Giuliani TIME2000: President George W. BushTIME1999: Jeff BezosTIME1998: Kenneth Starr and Bill ClintonTIME1997: Andrew GroveTIME1996: Dr. David HoTIME1995: Newt GingrichTIME1994: Pope John Paul IITIME1993: The Peacemakers: Yitzhak Rabin, Nelson Mandela, F.W. De Klerk, Yasser ArafatTIME1992: President Bill ClintonTIME1991: Ted TurnerTIME1990: President George H.W. BushTIME1989: Mikhail GorbachevTIME1988: Endangered EarthTIME1987: Mikhail GorbachevTIME1986: Corazon AquinoTIME1985: Deng XiaopingTIME1984: Peter UeberrothTIME1983: President Ronald Reagan and Yuri AndropovTIME1982: The ComputerTIME1981: Lech Wałęsa TIME1980: President Ronald ReaganTIME1979: Ayatollah KhomeiniTIME1978: Deng XiaopingTIME1977: Anwar SadatTIME1976: President Jimmy CarterTIME1975: American WomenTIME1974: King FaisalTIME1973: John SiricaTIME1972: President Richard Nixon and Henry KissingerTIME1971: President Richard NixonTIME1970: Willy BrandtTIME1969: The Middle AmericansTIME1968: The Apollo 8 AstronautsTIME1967: President Lyndon B. JohnsonTIME1966: Men and Women 25 and UnderTIME1965: William WestmorelandTIME1964: Lyndon B. JohnsonTIME1963: Martin Luther King, Jr.TIME1962: Pope John XXIIITIME1961: President John F. KennedyTIME1960: U.S. ScientistsTIME1959: President Dwight D. EisenhowerTIME1958: Charles de GaulleTIME1957: Nikita KhrushchevTIME1956: The Hungarian Freedom FighterTIME1955: Harlow CurticeTIME1954: John Foster DullesTIME1953: Konrad AdenauerTIME1952: Queen Elizabeth IITIME1951: Mohammad MossadeghTIME1950: The American Fighting Man TIME1949: Winston ChurchillTIME1948: President Harry S. TrumanTIME1947: George MarshallTIME1946: James F. ByrnesTIME1945: President Harry S. TrumanTIME1944: Dwight D. EisenhowerTIME1943: George MarshallTIME1942: Joseph StalinTIME1941: President Franklin D. RooseveltTIME1940: Winston ChurchillTIME1939: Joseph StalinTIME1938: Adolf HitlerTIME1937: Chiang Kai-shek and Soong May-lingTIME1936: Wallis SimpsonTIME1935: Haile SelassieTIME1934: President Franklin D. RooseveltTIME1933: Hugh S. JohnsonTIME1932: Franklin D. RooseveltTIME1931: Pierre LavalTIME1930: Mahatma GandhiTIME1929: Owen D. YoungTIME1928: Walter ChryslerTIME1927: Charles LindberghTIME