Amy Sherald: American Sublime
November 16, 2024–March 9, 2025
Solo Exhibition
Curated by Sarah Roberts
Image: Amy Sherald. Ecclesia (The Meeting of Inheritance and Horizons), 2024. SFMOMA, San Francisco.
SFMOMA
151 3rd Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
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SFMOMA Hours
| Monday | 10:00 am – 5:00 pm |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 10:00 am – 5:00 pm |
| Wednesday | Closed |
| Thursday | 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm |
| Friday | 10:00 am – 5:00 pm |
| Saturday | 10:00 am – 5:00 pm |
| Sunday | 10:00 am – 5:00 pm |
Overview
Today’s LOVE LETTER TO ART is Amy Sherald: American Sublime, impeccably curated by Sarah Roberts, which is currently on view at SFMOMA until March 9, 2025.
“The exhibition presents nearly 50 of Amy Sherald’s luminous paintings, including her iconic portraits of Michelle Obama and Breonna Taylor, poetic early works, and new works on view for the first time.”
Preview of Amy Sherald: American Sublime. SFMOMA, San Francisco.
“As a young artist, I longed to see portraits of Black Americans that reflected the richness and diversity of our stories.
My work seeks to capture that multiplicity and offer something universal—art that speaks to everyone. It represents who I am, while aiming to resonate on a broader, human level.
She paints a better world by bringing our attention to the fact that it already exists in the tilt of a head, the air of a gaze, the fold of a hand.”
Shown here (GREAT titles!):
1) Ecclesia (The Meeting of Inheritance and Horizons), 2024
2) What’s precious inside of him does not care to be known by the mind in ways that diminish its presence (All American), 2017
3) Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama, 2018
4) The Boy with the Big Fish, 2016
5) For Love, and for Country, 2022
6) Untitled (Opal), 2019
7) If You Surrendered to the Air, You Could Ride It, 2019
8) A Midsummer Afternoon Dream, 2021
9) They Call Me Redbone, but I’d Rather Be Strawberry Shortcake, 2009
10) Kingdom, 2022
11) Listen, you a wonder. You a city of a woman. You got a geography of your own, 2016
12) Installation View (video)
13) American Grit, 2024
14) A Golden Afternoon, 2016
15) Breonna Taylor, 2020
16) Amy Sherald w/ Breonna Taylor, 2020
17) Installation View
Amy Sherald: American Sublime is an EXCELLENT show. Her large-scale and life-sized portraits exude a power beyond size, radiating both strength and dignity. Her work serves as a channel through which she paints her subjects with the utmost reverence. To her, they are royalty—and through her eyes, they become so to us as well.
Sherald’s work is rich with cultural references, drawing inspiration from film, literature, and social commentary. Ecclesia (The Meeting of Inheritance and Horizons) draws inspiration from Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, while The Boy with the Big Fish reflects influences from Gordon Parks’ The Learning Tree and Tim Burton’s Big Fish. For Love, and for Country is an LGBTQ+ take on Alfred Eisenstaedt’s V-J Day in Times Square. If You Surrendered to the Air, You Could Ride It, takes its titles from Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon.
I saw the exhibition a week after the 2024 election—I was still pretty down at the time—I did get teary eyed after seeing Michelle Obama’s portrait. Yet, after seeing Sherald’s show and feeling the warmth of her subjects, I found comfort in knowing that heroes like Michelle Obama, systemic victims like Breonna Taylor, and the everyday people she paints hold space in our world, which seems to be growing smaller and smaller.
The exhibition’s accompanying book by Sarah Roberts can be purchased at the SFMOMA store for $45.00/$40.50 (members) and on Amazon as well.
Amy Sherald: American Sublime is on view until March 9, 2025 at SFMOMA. It runs alongside some FANTASTIC shows (see below), including the 2024 SECA Awards Exhibition and Unity Through Skateboarding.
Did you see the show(s)? What did you think? Let us know in the comments (in the Reviews section located on the second tab at the top of the page).
Currently on View at SFMOMA
Coming Soon to SFMOMA
SFMOMA DINING
QUICK GUIDE: SFMOMA
SFMOMA EXHIBITIONS:- Amy Sherald: American Sublime [Floor 4] (Closes March 9, 2025)
- Count Me In [Floor 2] (Closes April 27, 2025)
- When the World Is Watching [Floor 2] (Closes April 27, 2025)
- Unity through Skateboarding [Floor 2] (Closes May 4, 2025)
- Bay Area Walls: Artist Commissions + Features [Floors 2, 3, 5] (Closes June 2025)
- 2024 SECA Art Award Exhibition [Floor 2] (Closes May 26, 2025)
- Ragnar Kjartansson: The Visitors [Interactive musical experience. Think: If melodic intensity was visual.] (Closes Sept 28, 2025)
- Yayoi Kusama: Dreaming of Earth’s Sphericity, I Would Offer My Love [Floor 6] (Closes Fall 2025)
- Kara Walker’s Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine) [Ground Floor. *Post to follow soon.] (Closes Spring 2026)
MUSEUM HOURS: Open Monday–Tuesday 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.; CLOSED WEDNESDAY. Thursday 12:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.; Friday–Sunday 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. ADMISSION:- General Admission Adults $30
- Seniors 65+ $25
- Ages 19-24 $23
- 18 & Under FREE.
- *SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS +$15 (Includes access to permanent collections)
- **Membership starts at $130 GA/$110 Senior/$90 Working Artist
DISCOUNTS: General Admission is FREE through the following programs:- FREE 1ST THURSDAYS (Residents of the 9 Bay Area Counties – next one is Thurs, March 6, 2025
- FREE FAMILY DAYS (up to 4 adults accompanying one child – next one is Sun, June 8, 2025)
- FREE COMMUNITY DAYS (next one is April 13, 2025).
- Discover and Go (Free w/library card – may not apply to all counties)
- SF Museums for All (show your EBT or Medi-Cal card/ID)
- SF Unified Staff Free Admission (at show proof of empoyment/ID – reserve in-person, not available online)
- Blue Star Museum Discount (FREE Admission to U.S. military personnel and veterans plus up to 5 family members from the 3rd Sat in May until the 1st Monday in Sept.)
- Free General Admission + Guest w/Sotheby’s Preferred Membership.
- Free General Admission + Guest for SFMOMA coporate partners.
EVENTS:- Free Live Jazz Concert ft. Heavy Arts Ensemble on March 2, 2025 from 3:00 p.m.–4:15 p.m
- FREE FIRST THURSDAY EVENT Oaklandish Departures by April Banks re: Table Manners on March 6, 2025 from 5:00 p.m.–7:30 p.m. Includes dance and spirituals performances by Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir Ensemble.
- Last Look for Members — Amy Sherald: American Sublime on Sat, March 8 + Sun, March 9, 2025 from 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
- Artist Talk: Postcommodity on Thursday March 20, 2025, 6:00 p.m.
- Postcommodity: Cosmovisión Torneo de la Bahia (FREE PERFORMANCE) on March 22 and 23 from 2:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m
- SFMOMA Art Bash 2025 (21+) on April 23, 2025 from 6:00 p.m.–1:00 a.m. [TICKETS: Art Bash Dinner 6PM, $3K–$100K; Art Bash Premium Party Lounge 6PM, $500; Art Bash Party 8PM, $250; Late Night Party 10PM, $95]
SFMOMA DINING (*MEMBERS RECEIVE A 10% DISCOUNT):
- Steps Coffee (2nd floor) is open Fri-Tues 9:30–4:30 p.m.; Thurs 11:00–6:00 p.m.
- Cafe 5 (5TH FLOOR) is open Fri-Tues 10:30–4:30 p.m.; Thurs 12–7:30 p.m.
- *Grace (street level) is open to the public, MUSEUM ADMISSION NOT REQUIRED. Hours: Thurs–Mon 11:30–5:00 p.m. CLOSED TUES AND WED. Thurs 11:30–8:00 p.m. **Check out Grace’s FABULOUS HAPPY HOUR Thurs–Mon 3:00–5:00 p.m.
SFMOMA NEARBY ART:
- MUSEUMS: ON VIEW: YBCA [Nicky Nodjoumi & Nahid Hagigat are EXTRAORDINARY SHOWS feat. the Iranian American artists. Closes March 23, 2025. Post to follow soon.] (1 min walk)
- MUSEUMS: MoAD ON VIEW: [Liberatory Living: Protective Interiors and Radical Black Joy closes March 2, 2025] (2 min walk)
- GALLERIES: Berggruen Gallery ON VIEW: [Historical Bay Area Painters from March 6–April 24, 2025] (1 min walk from SFMOMA’S Howard Street entrance).
- PUBLIC ART: Revelation, the Martin King Jr. memorial fountain and several others at Yerba Buena Gardens [see LINK for Yerba Buena Gardens self-guided art tour] (1 min walk)
SFMOMA NEARBY DINING:
- Tropisueño [counter-order Mexican] (4 min walk)
- Delarosa [pizza and pasta] BOOK DELAROSA ON OPEN TABLE HERE (4 min walk)
- Amber India [upscale Indian food w/ *Mon–Fri LUNCH SPECIALS starting at $18 & $32 Lunch Buffet!] BOOK AMBER INDIA ON OPEN TABLE HERE (4 min walk)
- Metreon Food Hall [Budget-friendly assortment of food vendors i.e. burgers, salads, poke bowls, wraps, ramen] (4 min walk)
- The Harlequin [Cocktail bar w/ Brooklyn vibes serving lunch and dinner Wed–Sun] (7 min walk)
A LOVE LETTER TO ART’S CASUAL DINING PICKS
- Oren’s Hummus [Delicious Israeli food in a casual friendly setting. *Check out their AMAZING HAPPY HOUR Mon–Thurs 3:00–5:00 p.m.] (3 min walk)
- Fang [Cantonese cuisine from the Fang family of House of Nanking. As seen on Chef Dynasty: House of Fang (oh, I like that Peter Fang!), chefs Kathy and Peter Fang blend tradition with charm.] (4 min walk) Book Fang on Open Table HERE.
A LOVE LETTER TO ART’S ROMANTIC DINING PICKS
- Yokai [Hi-Fi cocktail lounge. Decadent lunch vibes, beautifully crafted drinks, and OMG—THAT CAVIAR POTATO!! SO. GOOD.] (7 min walk) Book Yokai on Open Table HERE.
A LOVE LETTER TO ART RECOMMENDS
More nearby suggestions are always welcome. Feel free to add in the comments!
SFMOMA NEARBY ART
FREE Self-Guided Audio Tour of Yerba Buena Gardens' Public Artworks
SFMOMA NEARBY DINING
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Author: ALoveLettertoArt
