The Whitney Museum of American Art is kind of having its moment right now.
Not only is it gearing up to launch its 10 year Meatpacking anniversary programming, but this week it welcomes one of the most anticipated art exhibits in NYC all year!
American artist Amy Sherald is prepping her debut solo exhibition at a New York museum, titled Amy Sherald: American Sublime.
Opening to the public on April 9, 2025, the exhibit walks through the powerful career of Sherald and her nearly 50 paintings spanning from 2017 to present.
Those particularly of note, iconic portraits of First Lady Michelle Obama and Breonna Taylor—a microcosm of the exhibit’s theme of depicting privileged Black Americans as everyday people who are underrepresented in traditional portraiture.
Sherald’s inspiration stems from her childhood; growing up and going to museums where she never saw portraits of Black people like herself and vowed to change it.
Growing up with plenty of family photographs—a black-and-white portrait of her grandmother in particular—her life’s work and the exhibit at The Whitney is dedicated to just that, portray Black people in quiet, authentic moments.
According to the museum, Sherald chooses her subjects who vary in age, gender, and identity, placing them in scenes from everyday life to share perspectives she wants to see depicted in the world.
Blending American realism with traditional portraiture like other notable artists Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth, she uses fundamental elements of American life (like a cowboy, a beauty queen, or a farmer) to pull the viewers’ perspective back into familiarity and reveal “the richness and complexity of humanity.”
Alongside the paintings on view in the galleries, Sherald has also created an accompanying piece to the exhibit on the facade of the Horatio Street building across from the Museum. (Which you should definitely check out before your Whitney visit).
Titled Four Ways of Being, the commissioned work brings together four portraits by the artist—some never before seen in New York—and explores the intersection of past, present, and future with each capturing a distinct way of existing in the world.
Amy Sherald: American Sublime is on view April 9–August 10, 2025.
📍 The Whitney Museum of American Art (99 Gansevoort St)