Portraitist Amy Sherald
On Feb. 12, 2018, Amy Sherald went from being a virtual unknown to one of the most talked-about artists in the world. On that day her painting of Michelle Obama was unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery, alongside Kehinde Wiley's portrait of President Barack Obama.
Amy Sherald
Amy Sherald, 44, has been largely unknown. After having waited tables and taken out loans, the commission to paint Michelle Obama was her big break.
CBS News' Alex Wagner asked Sherald how game-changing this moment was for her.
"I am relieved that I can pay back my school loans," Sherald said. "Becoming an artist is not empirical; you have to put the work in, but that doesn't mean you're going to make it. I think, hustling for that long, it kind of, like, chips away at your self-esteem. And then, the breakthrough comes, and you're like, 'Oh, yeah, that's who I am!'"
"Mother and Child"
"Mother and Child" (2016), oil on canvas. Collection of Dr. Anita Blanchard and Martin Nesbitt, Chicago.
Sherald told CBS News' Alex Wagner that her mother was slow to accept her career as an artist. "I was always drawing. But it wasn't something that my mom ever took seriously. You know, my father was a dentist; his father started a barber shop. And then we had a mortuary. And all the women had master's degrees and were teachers. So it's like, 'Martin Luther King did not die for you to become a painter. That's not what we do. We have jobs!'
"And so, I think her mind was really blown when they invested in my education and then, all of a sudden, I'm like, 'I want to be an artist.' It really wasn't until three years ago that she was, like, 'Okay, I get it now.' When she finally went to National Portrait Gallery, she's like, 'You're kind of a big deal!'" Sherald laughed.
"They Call Me Redbone, But I'd Rather Be Strawberry Shortcake"
"They Call Me Redbone, But I'd Rather Be Strawberry Shortcake" (2009), oil on canvas. Collection of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Sherald's paintings are primarily portraits of people - exclusively black figures, usually strangers she meets on the street. "I may call them the next week, or six months later. I keep a Rolodex of people! And then, I photograph them, after I've taken the time to consider what I want to style them in - sometimes stuff from their closet. It's intimate, 'cause we're strangers, and I'm like, 'Can I come to your house? And can I go into your bedroom? And can I open your closet and pull stuff out? Can I touch your clothes?'" she laughed.
"They place a lot of trust in me. And I just let the magic happen. It's feels very serendipitous. So, I photograph them, and from that photograph I start to make the painting. I usually start with a red background on a stretched canvas after it's been gessoed, and draw the figure in charcoal. And then, render it with the paint."
"It Made Sense… Mostly In Her Mind"
"It Made Sense… Mostly In Her Mind" (2011). Collection of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.
"Welfare Queen"
"Welfare Queen" (2012), oil on canvas.
"Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance)"
"Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance)" (2014), oil on canvas. Collection of Frances and Burton Reifler.
Sherald's works have certain trademarks: the subjects never smile, and they are always gray.
Why does she paint black skin in grayscale? "When I started painting, when I found my artistic DNA, part of that process was trying to figure out how I wanted to represent these images. And I had started to render the skin in gray in order to put the glazes of brown over top. And I just completed a face, and I had kinda started the rest of the painting, and it just looked good – like, the gray skin on these bright colors, it just looked good.
"I think, also, I was subconsciously struggling with not wanting to be marginalized. I feel like the black body is a political statement in itself, right? So on canvas, all of a sudden, I'm making this political statement just because I'm painting brown skin. And I didn't want to marginalize the narrative that I was trying to put out in the world."
"The Bathers"
"The Bathers" (2015), oil on canvas. Private collection, Richmond, Va.
"I get emails from people that really connect to it from all over the world. From different races, genders, whatever, they can see themselves in these people. And I think narratives build empathy. And I think that, as simple as they are, there's definitely a subversive message of humanity. Because to be seen is to be human. And I think a lot of us feel like we aren't seen; or, we experience ourselves in the media in ways that aren't necessarily consistent to who we are."
"The Make Believer (Monet's Garden)"
"The Make Believer (Monet's Garden)" (2016), oil on canvas. Collection of Andreas Waldburg-Wolfegg, Chicago.
"All Things Bright and Beautiful"
"All Things Bright and Beautiful" (2016), oil on canvas. Collection of Frances and Burton Reifler, Winston-Salem, N.C.
"listen, you a wonder ..."
"listen, you a wonder. you a city of a woman. you got a geography of your own" (2016), oil on canvas. Private collection, New York.
"I have talks, and there's always somebody that asks, 'Why don't you paint white people?' And I'm like, 'Have you looked around? Do you need more help to perpetuate your image? Like, European history and all that, you know?' And so, it wasn't until I discovered photography that I saw images of myself that were outside of the dominant historical narrative where I could connect myself to a history that was connected to love, and just not the small narrative that we get in our history books, you know?"
"Innocent You, Innocent Me"
"Innocent You, Innocent Me" (2016), oil on canvas. Grahn Collection, Stockholm, Sweden.
"I think being able to expand your mind about places that you belong and about changing expectations of what you expect to see when you walk into a museum, I think it's really important for people to see themselves represented in that way in those kind of sacred spaces where they tell us what is valuable and what's important. And, if you're not represented in that, then I think it subconsciously makes you feel like you don't belong."
"Pilgrimage of the Chameleon"
"Pilgrimage of the Chameleon" (2016), oil on canvas. Private collection, Guadalajara, Mexico.
"All the unforgotten bliss (The early bird)"
"All the unforgotten bliss (The early bird)" (2017), oil on canvas. Private collection, Miami.
"The lesson of falling leaves"
"The lesson of falling leaves" (2017), oil on canvas.
"What's precious inside of him ..."
"What's precious inside of him does not care to be known by the mind in ways that diminish its presence (All American)" (2017), oil on canvas. Private collection, Chicago.
"She was learning to love moments ..."
"She was learning to love moments, to love moments for themselves" (2017).
When she was 30 Sherald learned her heart was failing: "I had been walking around with my heart function at 18%, which is what most people get transplanted at. But I was asymptomatic, no symptoms at all."
She would soon have to put her brushes aside to care for sick relatives back home in Georgia. At one point, Sherald stopped painting for four years.
Then, in 2012, her brother passed away from cancer - and just days later, she received a heart transplant, from a young female donor, nearly a decade after her diagnosis.
"A clear unspoken granted magic"
"A clear unspoken granted magic" (2017), oil on canvas. Collection of Denise & Gary Gardner, Chicago.
"I have a lot of self-doubt. But I'm not a quitter. And I've always been very driven. And I didn't realize how strong I was until I lost my brother. And then, I realized what my strength [is] -- I can get through stuff. And losing him only made me want to live my life even harder. You know, it's like, I have to."
"What's different about Alice ..."
"What's different about Alice is that she has the most incisive way of telling the truth" (2017), oil on canvas. Collection of the Columbus Museum, Columbus, Ga.
Michelle Obama
Amy Sherald's portrait of first lady Michelle Obama (2018).
The triangular composition of Michelle Obama seated - grounded and elevated - presents her floating in front of a background of blue - "a little bit ethereal and heavenly," Sherald said.
The pose, "she naturally fell into. And she has these long, beautiful fingers. Her arms are very long, and her legs are very long, and she just has a very graceful way about her. And her shoulders are exposed. And I thought that it was just a great way to highlight those wonderful aspects about who she is."
Michelle Obama
A detail from Amy Sherald's portrait of first lady Michelle Obama (2018), for the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.
Michelle Obama
Detail of the dress from Amy Sherald's portrait of first lady Michelle Obama (2018).
"It was really dynamic - the bold patterns, to me, were beautiful," said Sherald. "And I saw the connection to black culture history, with quiltings. I like the fact that it was white. I like the fact that the colors that were in the dress were tertiary, you know, the pinks and kind of the mustard yellow, and that neutral gray. And the way that it flowed around, it lay nicely around her feet."
Michelle Obama
Amy Sherald's portrait of first lady Michelle Obama (2018).
"I didn't want to do the obvious. I think a lot of people were expecting me to make this portrait that was chopped off right above the knee. But I really wanted her to be, not bigger-than-life, but life-sized.
"I did photograph her facing forward. But it wasn't as powerful. And her chin being on her hand, that relaxed kind of posture, but still dignified and graceful, that really worked for me."
National Portrait Gallery
Portraits of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, posing with the artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., Feb. 12, 2018.
By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan