Amy Sherald2018D.C.National Portrait GalleryMichelle Obama Hauser & Wirth London2022Jenni SorkinKevin QuashieTa-Nehisi Coates

This is the first comprehensive monograph on acclaimed painter Amy Sherald, whose distinctive style of simplified realist portraiture features African American subjects rendered against colorful monochrome backdrops or in everyday settings. Sherald rose to fame after being chosen by former first lady Michelle Obama to paint her official portrait for the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, in 2018, becoming the first African American woman to receive this honor. In addition to reproductions of Sheralds recent works, the bookpublished to accompany her solo exhibition at Hauser & Wirth London in fall 2022includes illustrations of earlier paintings, as well as an intimate glimpse into Sheralds process and practice through a series of in-studio photographs. Newly commissioned texts include an art historical analysis of the artists work by Jenni Sorkin; a meditation on the politics and aesthetics of Sherald’s portraiture by cultural scholar Kevin Quashie; and a conversation between Sherald and acclaimed author Ta-Nehisi Coates.