Award-winning portraitist Amy Sherald has new backing as part of the Creative Artists Agency.
Amy Sherald, the acclaimed artist behind the official portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama, is taking her work to new heights after signing with Creative Artists Agency (CAA).
The portrait is rich with symbolism, showing Obama in grayscale against a pale blue background, her chin resting thoughtfully on her hand, and wearing a checkered Milly dress by Michelle Smith, inspired by the vibrant, abstract quilts created by generations of African American women in Gee’s Bend, Alabama. While unconventional for an official national portrait, it showcases Sherald’s signature style of capturing intimate, tender depictions of Black American life.
This is also the artist who painted Michelle Obama’s official first lady portrait. I like to think the blue background is a nod to her Gullah Geechee heritage and indigo or Haint blue. The portrait hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in DC. https://t.co/Xz1KiaYn1J pic.twitter.com/aj1Ez8YEyx— GullahMuseumSC (@GullahSc) May 23, 2024
Sherald’s addition to the CAA adds to the agency’s growing roster of renowned artists, including Arthur Jafa and Julien Schnabel.
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Source: Black Enterprise
