Amy Sherald’s “American Sublime” Opens at the Whitney Museum

A Landmark Exhibition in American Portraiture

The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City unveils American Sublime, a milestone solo exhibition by acclaimed figurative painter Amy Sherald. Running from April 9 to August 10, 2025, the show presents nearly 50 portraits across two decades—affirming Sherald’s critical place in the canon of contemporary American art.

The Language of Presence

Sherald’s distinctive approach—rendering her subjects in grayscale skin tones set against vibrant, pared-down backgrounds—encourages viewers to encounter portraiture through a lens of intimacy, dignity, and stillness. Her paintings resist the spectacle often imposed on Black subjects and instead propose a quiet assertion of interiority and selfhood.

Highlight Works and New Directions

Featured in the exhibition are her celebrated portraits of Michelle Obama and Breonna Taylor, alongside new works including the 2024 triptych Ecclesia (The Meaning of Inheritance and Horizons). This expansive composition reveals Sherald’s evolving interest in spatial narrative and symbolic layering.

Reframing National Memory

Through American Sublime, Sherald continues her practice of reclaiming and reframing how Black Americans are represented in visual culture. Her subjects embody softness, grace, and narrative depth, countering dominant tropes and proposing a new visual archive of American identity.

A Historic First for the Whitney

This exhibition marks Sherald’s first solo museum show in New York, signaling a pivotal institutional recognition of her contribution to portraiture and the art historical narrative at large.

Sources

• Hypebeast – Amy Sherald Reimagines the 'American Sublime' in Whitney Museum Exhibition
• Artnet News – Amy Sherald’s Whitney Debut
• Apollo Magazine – Amy Sherald’s Paintings Explore a Different Kind of Sublime
• NPR – Amy Sherald at the Whitney Museum

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