MY SHERALD was living in Baltimore
and fi nishing up a graduate degree in
fi ne art when, at age 30, she was diag-
nosed with a serious heart condition.
Nine years later, in 2012, after a har-
rowing blackout episode, she received
a heart transplant, which renewed her
commitment to painting as well as her health. In 2016, she
submitted one of her paintings, a portrait called Miss Ev-
erything (Unsuppressed Deliverance), featuring an elegant
African-American woman holding an oversized teacup, toa VISUAL
ARTS
Amy Sherald
Reimagining
American
portraitureTHE ARTIST WHO FAMOUSLY PAINTED A FIRST LADY CREATES
REVELATORY PORTRAITS OF ORDINARY PEOPLE
THE LUMINOUS TRUTH
by TIFFANY Y. ATES
photograph by MIRANDA BARNES
Sherald’s
newer works are
grander in scale ,
exemplifi ed by
the gigantic If
you surrendered
to the air, you
could ride it.