Amy Sherald's 'American Sublime' Survey at Whitney Museum
Amy Sherald's midcareer survey 'American Sublime' at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York runs through August 10, 2025. The exhibition features four dozen single-panel paintings, including the 2024 triptych 'Ecclesia (The Meeting of Inheritance and Horizons)', which blends spiritual and secular imagery. Sherald, born in Columbus, Georgia, and raised Christian, uses the triptych format historically tied to Christian art, but populates it with Black American figures in everyday attire. The work draws inspiration from Wes Anderson's film 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' (2014), particularly a phonebooth image, and incorporates marine-animal weathervanes (sperm whale, tortoise, dolphin) that evoke beach souvenirs. Sherald subverts naturalism with flat, graphic style and frames within frames. The triptych's figures gaze outward, appearing aloof to each other, suggesting parallel lives. Sherald is best known for her 2018 portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama.
Key facts
- Amy Sherald's midcareer survey 'American Sublime' is at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, through August 10, 2025.
- The exhibition includes four dozen single-panel paintings, most depicting everyday Black Americans.
- The triptych 'Ecclesia (The Meeting of Inheritance and Horizons)' (2024) is a key work.
- Sherald was born in Columbus, Georgia, and grew up practicing Christianity.
- 'Ecclesia' uses a triptych format historically tied to Christian altarpieces.
- The triptych features three figures in everyday attire standing in copper-roofed towers.
- Sherald cites Wes Anderson's 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' (2014) as inspiration for the towers.
- The work includes marine-animal weathervanes: sperm whale, tortoise, and dolphin.
- Sherald subverts naturalism with flat, graphic style and frames within frames.
- Sherald is known for her 2018 portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama.
Entities
Artists
- Amy Sherald
- Srikanth Reddy
- Wes Anderson
Institutions
- Whitney Museum of American Art
- ArtReview
Locations
- New York
- United States
- Columbus
- Georgia
- Jersey City