Amy Sherald (1973- )

November 25, 2018 
/ Contributed By: Robert Fikes

Amy Sherald

Amy Sherald

Image courtesy Smithsonian

Amy Sherald, a portraitย artist, was the first African American woman to complete a presidential portrait for the Smithsonian Institutionโ€™s National Portrait Gallery.ย  She is best known for painting the official portrait of former First Ladyย Michelle Obama. Sherald was born on August 30, 1973 in Columbus,ย Georgia, Amos P. Sherald III, a dentist, and Geraldine W. Sherald. Although she had a late introduction to painting, her parents had hoped she would pursue a career in medicine.

Sherald earned her bachelorโ€™s degree in painting atย Clark-Atlanta Universityย and then later received her graduate degree at theย Marylandย Institute College of Art in 2004. In the same year, she suffered from a life-threatening heart condition, cardiomyopathy, but continued to manage. She cultivated her art skills inย Norwayย andย Chinaย and worked as an art museum curator and exhibit organizer inย South America.ย  But for several years, she had done little art work in order to tend to her mother, ailing aunts, a brother who was dying of cancer, and also her own health condition. In December 2012, she received a new lease on life when she underwent a successful heart transplant at age 39.

After the surgery, Sherald continued her artwork often painting subjects that feature invariably unsmiling African American common folk, males and females, young and old. While their clothing is often filled with color with interesting and appealing designs, the backgrounds are blank and monochromatic.ย  Their faces are painted gray as a way to deemphasize race. She selects her subjects by approaching strangers who strike her as interesting subjects, photographs them outdoors in natural light, and then chooses their clothing prior to painting.

In 2011, Sherald displayed her first solo exhibition at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. More solo and group exhibits followed across the United States, but she was still relatively unknown. In 2016, her obscurity changed significantly when she became the first woman to win the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition sponsored by the Smithsonian Institutionโ€™s National Portrait Gallery. According to Sherald, her first-place entry, titledย Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance), featured a girl perhaps playing dress-up that was inspired byย Alice in Wonderland. She received $25,000, a space for her painting in the museum, and national attention for her winning portrait.

The pinnacle of Sheraldโ€™s career came in 2017 when Michelle Obama hand-selected the artist to paint her official portrait for the National Portrait Gallery. The former first lady posed on two separate occasions for the portrait. Sherald commented she believed the portrait of the First Lady represents the highlight of her professional career, commenting, โ€œ(Ms. Obama is) a human being with integrity, intellect, confidence and compassion. And the paintings I create aspire to express these attributes: A message of humanity.โ€ย  Sherald and fellow artistย Kehinde Wiley, who painted the official portrait ofย Presidentย Barack Obama, are the only African American artists to have completed presidential portraits for the National Portrait Gallery.

Self-described as an introvert, Sherald works in her Baltimore, Maryland studio and only executes about fifteen portraits per year.ย  The portraits currently sell for approximately $50,000 each.

About the Author

Author Profile

Robert Fikes, Jr., a 1970 graduate of Tuskegee University, earned graduate degrees in modern European history and library science at the University of Minnesota. Retired since 2017, he worked as a reference librarian at San Diego State University where he was also a subject bibliographer for Africana Studies, European, American, Middle Eastern, and African history. Fikes has published numerous journal articles, essays, encyclopedia entries, newspaper and magazine contributions, bibliographies, and several print and online books pertaining to history, art, and literature.

CITE THIS ENTRY IN APA FORMAT:

Fikes, R. (2018, November 25). Amy Sherald (1973- ). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/sherald-amy-1973/

Source of the Author's Information:

Robin Pogrebin, โ€œAfter a Late Start, an Artistโ€™s Big Break,โ€ย New York Timesย (October 23, 2017) atย https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/23/arts/design/amy-sherald-michelle-obama-official-portrait.html; Kyle Swenson, โ€œThe Lifeโ€”and Near Deathโ€”of Michelle Obama Portrait Artist Amy Sherald,โ€ย Washington Postย (February 13, 2018) atย https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/02/13/the-life-and-near-death-of-michelle-obama-portrait-artist-amy-sherald/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.87961652741d; โ€œA Portrait of Artist Amy Sheraldโ€ (CBS News) atย https://www.cbsnews.com/news/artist-amy-sherald-on-painting-michelle-obama/.

Further Reading