Michelle Obama and Breonna Taylor are the only well-known subjects that Sherald has painted.
The Obama painting aligns with Sherald’s most frequent subject: girls and women.
Sherald primarily paints adults rather than children, and the Obama portrait aligns with this trend.
The Obama painting reflects Sherald’s focus on individual subjects; only 7 images in this collection feature two or more people.
The Obama portrait is part of Sherald’s most recent period of works, created in 2018.
Among the 60 paintings, the portraits of Michelle Obama and Breonna Taylor were the first to be created on linen; all previous works were done on canvas. Since the Obama portrait, Sherald has continued to use linen for her images.