Left: “The lesson of the falling leaves” (2017), oil on canvas, 54 x 43 inches. Right: “She was learning to love moments, to love moments for themselves” (2017), oil on canvas, 54 x 43 inches

Amy Sherald grew up in Columbus, Georgia, which shaped her conceptions of identity and fundamentally influenced her artistic practice. “Acknowledging the performative aspects of race and Southernness, I committed myself to exploring the interiority of Black Americans,” the artist told Smithsonian Magazine in December 2019. “I wanted to create unseen narratives.”

“If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it” (2019), oil on canvas, 129 15/16 x 108 x 2 1/2 inches

Now living and working in Baltimore, Sherald paints distinctive portraits set against bold, vibrant backdrops. She renders each subject, who stares directly at the viewer, in her signature grayscale. “A Black person on a canvas is automatically read as radical,” she said. “My figures needed to be pushed into the world in a universal way, where they could become a part of the mainstream art historical narrative. I knew I didn’t want it to be about identity alone.”

When considering how Sherald titles her works, it’s not surprising that she reads voraciously: “She had an inside and an outside now and suddenly she knew how not to mix them” is a line from Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God […]

“Precious jewels by the sea” (2019), oil on canvas, 120 × 108 × 2 1/2 inches. All images © Amy Sherald

More: Remarkable Portraits by Artist Amy Sherald Render Subjects in Grayscale Against Vibrant Backdrops