Skip to Main Content

Artwork Page for He Was Meant for All Things to Meet

Details / Information for He Was Meant for All Things to Meet

He Was Meant for All Things to Meet

2022
(American, b. 1973)
America
Oil on linen
137.2 x 109.2 x 6.4 cm (54 x 43 x 2 1/2 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 2023.5
© Amy Sherald. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Location: 229A Contemporary
Copyright
This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Download, Print and Share

Print

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.
Vertically oriented oil painting of a person with medium-dark skin tone visible from the thighs up, standing facing us with their hands clasped behind their back in front of a solid, mint green background. They wear blue jeans and a turtle-neck, green sweater with the number "22" in white on the chest and red, blue, and yellow stripes on the collar and around the armpits. Greys shade their face and they have short, black hair.

He Was Meant for All Things to Meet

2022

Amy Sherald

(American, b. 1973)
America

See Also

Visually Similar by AI

    Contact us

    The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

    To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

    All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.