A Letter From the Publisher: Jan. 4, 1988

Most readers may not recognize the style of painting employed for this week's Man of the Year cover portrait, but Mikhail Gorbachev and his fellow Soviets certainly will. The image is actually the top of a lacquered box. For more than 200 years, artisans in a handful of villages in northern Russia have been turning out such delicately painted artifacts. The boxes have attracted collectors around the world. Art Director Rudolph Hoglund was reminded of the art form when he went to Moscow to find a Soviet artist for this week's project. Hoglund quickly decided that a lacquered likeness of the...