Feb 8, 2023

He was meant for all things to meet

He was meant for all things to meet

2022

Amy Sherald

(American, b. 1973)

Oil on linen

137.5 x 109.4 x 6.4 cm (54 1/8 x 43 1/16 x 2 1/2 in.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2023.5

Did you know?

Amy Sherald considers photography to be the starting point for her painted portraits.

Description

Amy Sherald’s subjects often fill canvases with a presence that is heightened by frontal stances and direct gazes. While Sherald’s subjects display contemporary qualities, the artist typically places them against flat, solid-colored backgrounds that lack markers of time or place and renders their black skin in shades of gray. She has explained this as a technique to draw viewers’ attention toward the inner life of her subjects. In 2018, Sherald’s distinctive style captured the attention of Michelle Obama. She became the first Black artist to paint the first Black first lady’s official portrait for the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

See also
Collection: 
CONTEMP - Painting
Department: 
Contemporary Art
Type of artwork: 
Painting
Medium: 
Oil on linen

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