Amy Sherald, A God Blessed Land (Empire of Dirt). 2022. Oil on linen, 96 1/8 x 130 1/8 in. Tymure Collection © Amy Sherald. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Joseph Hyde.
WASHINGTON, DC.- The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has announced the Washington, D.C., presentation of “Amy Sherald: American Sublime,” the largest, most comprehensive exhibition of the artist’s work to date. Organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), “American Sublime” is the artist’s first major museum survey, bringing together paintings made from 2007 to the present.
New and rarely seen work will be joined by the artist’s now iconic portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama (2018), commissioned by the Portrait Gallery for its collection, and her powerful portrait of Breonna Taylor (2020). The exhibition will also mark the return of “Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance)” (2014) to Washington, where the painting garnered first prize in the Portrait Gallery’s 2016 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. The Washington presentation of “American Sublime” is curated by Rhea L. Combs, director of curatorial affairs for the National Portrait Gallery. It will be on view Sept. 19, 2025 through Feb. 22, 2026. Sherald is the first contemporary Black artist to receive a solo exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery…