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Works by Amy Sherald
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When Michelle Obama describes you as "fly," you’re probably winning at life, and we can confidently say that about Amy Sherald.
Born in Columbus, GA, Sherald holds a BFA from Clark Atlanta University and a MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art. Initially a pre-med major at Clark Atlanta University, Sherald couldn’t ignore her real passion in life. She changed her major during her junior year of college and seriously started pursuing painting. The talented artist shot to fame when she made history as the first African American artist to be commissioned to paint the first lady by the National Portrait Gallery.
Sherald paints portraits of African American subjects, a group that has been overlooked and underrepresented in art history. Sherald explains, she is attempting to make up for lost time with her paintings. Portrayed in grayscale, the figures in her works are engaged in everyday activities. The gray skin tone was an intentional decision according to the artist as she wanted to challenge “the concept of color-as-race”. She wants her works to be read universally rather than just through the lens of identity. Before gaining international fame with her painting of Michelle Obama, Sherald received critical notice when she won the 2016 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition Award for Miss Everything.
Although the artist appears perfectly healthy, she suffers from a condition that almost took her life. The artist was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy at the age of 30. Her heart complications culminated at a moment in Rite Aid, during a visit for art supplies, where she suffered erratic palpitations and then blacked out. After passing out she was rushed to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she was informed her heart was functioning at 5%. Eventually, the artist underwent heart transplant surgery. Amy Sherald is truly a strong character, surviving a major life-threatening condition and patiently persisting with her career as an artist. A humble personality, she says to other artists, “Trust that if you’re on your path, things just kind of fall into place”.
Sources
Sources
- Cullen, Tony. “Episode 23: Painting Michelle Obama.” Sidedoor, Smithsonian. May 8, 2018. https://www.si.edu/sidedoor/ep-23-painting-michelle-obama
- Harris, Ashley. “5 Fast Facts: Amy Sherald.” National Museum of Women in the Arts. https://blog.nmwa.org/2017/05/03/5-fast-facts-amy-sherald/
- Swenson, Kyle. “Who is Amy Sherald?” Washington Post. February 23, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/02/13/the-life-…
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Here is what Wikipedia says about Amy Sherald
Amy Sherald (born August 30, 1973) is an American painter. She works mostly as a portraitist depicting African Americans in everyday settings. Her style is simplified realism, involving staged photographs of her subjects. Since 2012, her work has used grisaille to portray skin tones, a choice she describes as intended to challenge conventions about skin color and race.
In 2016, Sherald became the first woman as well as the first African American ever to win the National Portrait Gallery's Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition with her painting, Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance). The next year, she and Kehinde Wiley were selected by former President Barack Obama (Wiley) and former First Lady Michelle Obama (Sherald) to paint their official portraits, becoming the first African Americans ever to receive presidential portrait commissions from the National Portrait Gallery. The portraits were unveiled together in 2018 and have significantly increased attendance at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
In December 2020, her piece The Bathers (2015) was sold at auction for $4,265,000, nearly 30 times the presale estimate. On November 17, 2021, Welfare Queen (2012), sold for $3.9M in a Phillips New York auction and brought to light the need for more governance around resale royalties for artists.
Check out the full Wikipedia article about Amy Sherald
