Historic Beyoncé Vogue portrait will be displayed at Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
Beyoncé's history-making portrait from American Vogue will soon be displayed in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. The image is one of several taken by then-23-year-old photographer Tyler Mitchell for Vogue's September 2018 issue.
Before Mitchell, Vogue had never hired a black photographer to shoot a cover in its 126-year history. Mitchell announced the acquisition Tuesday on Twitter.
"A year ago today we broke the flood gates open," he tweeted. "Now I'm glad to share this picture is being acquired into the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery's permanent collection."
Beyoncé is wearing a Valentino dress and Philip Treacy hat in the photo.
"We are delighted to acquire this magnificent portrait of Beyoncé," Associate Curator of Photographs Dr. Leslie Ureña said in a statement.
A yet-to-be-announced exhibit will feature the portrait and it will also be added to the Washington, D.C. museum's permanent collection. The National Portrait Gallery said it would "keep everyone posted" on when it will be on display.
"We're just so crazy in love with her that we had to do it!" The gallery tweeted along with a Beyoncé GIF. "We look forward to adding this new work to our collection."
Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour reportedly gave Beyoncé full editorial control of her cover and feature, which included allowing her to choose her own photographer.
"When I first started, 21 years ago, I was told that it was hard for me to get onto covers of magazines because black people did not sell," Beyoncé told Vogue. "Clearly, that has been proven a myth. Not only is an African American on the cover of the most important month for Vogue, this is the first-ever Vogue cover shot by an African American photographer."
