Amy Sherald, portrait artist

The Obamas are coming to town. Not in person: the Obama presidential portraits, on loan from the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, will end their national tour in Boston later this year. Amy Sherald’s rendering of former First Lady Michelle Obama in the now-iconic, Gee's Bend-inspired, flowing white dress, is a stunning departure from earlier portraits of first ladies. Ms. Sherald grew up in Georgia, earned a master's degree from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore and studied with abstract expressionist Grace Hartigan. Though Ms. Sherald specializes in portraits of African-Americans, the portrait of Michelle Obama was her first directed commission. A distinguishing feature of her work is the use of grays, rather than blacks, to create the skin tones of her subjects. The Obama portraits will be on exhibit September 3-October 30, 2022, at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, after which they'll return to their home at the National Portrait Gallery.