AMY SHERALD: American Sublime

Whitney Museum
Through Aug. 10

Few have forgotten the official White House portrait of Michelle Obama by Amy Sherald. The frame is magnificently filled by a sleeveless woman sitting, facing the camera with hand posed under her chin. It’s Michelle Obama, contemplatively gazing out, her dress fanning out. Geometrical patterns, black, white, pink and red stripe the dress.

This mid-career retrospective focuses on how she addresses portraiture and her desire to represent everyday Black Americans.

Opening to the public on April 9, 2025, American Sublime considers Amy Sherald’s powerful impact on contemporary art and culture, bringing together almost fifty paintings spanning her career from 2007 to the present. This exhibition positions Sherald within the art historical tradition of American realism and figuration. The exhibition features early works, never or rarely seen by the public, and new work created specifically for the exhibition, along with iconic portraits of First Lady Michelle Obama and Breonna Taylor—two of the most recognizable and significant paintings made by an American artist in recent years.

Deeply committed to expanding notions of American identity, Sherald’s compositions center her subjects, inviting viewers to meet them eye to eye and empathetically step into their imagined worlds. Employing props and iconography—a tractor, a beach ball, the American flag, a toy pony, or a teacup—the artist crafts universally relatable narratives, illuminating her subjects’ idiosyncrasies and their unique life experiences. 

Her painterly narratives are truly beguiling. Don’t miss this show.

C. Ipiotis