BRALDS, BRALT (1951-) "The Search for Adam & Eve." Oil on canvas; 21½ x 17½ inches, image. Cover design for Newsweek, January 11, 1988. Framed. Dutch-born Bralt Bralds has worked in the United States as a successful commercial artist since moving here in 1978. His hyperrealistic art has appeared on the covers of Rolling Stone, National Geographic, Time, Der Spiegel and other magazines. His painting of Black Adam and Eve, illustrating the cover story on a controversial theory about the African origins of human life, caused an uproar for portraying them as brown-skinned with chemically curled hair. Bralds explained to reporter Itabari Njeri in ”COLORISM: In American Society, Are Lighter-Skinned Blacks Better Off?” (Los Angeles Times, April 24, 1988) that his original concept was “to make a black Adam and Eve. Meaning to me a real African.” But the magazine wanted a more contemporary look to appeal to as many readers as possible so the cover had to reflect that wish. Today Bralds is devoted to fine art rather than illustration. 1988