According to the Washington Post, a portrait of Breonna Taylor by artist Amy Sherald is being viewed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Amy Sherald is the artist who painted first lady Michelle Obama’s official portrait in 2018.
Sherald’s painting of Taylor is co-owned by the Speed Museum in Louisville, Kentucky and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The portrait is included in the museum’s new exhibit that began on Sept. 10, “Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.”
The painting shows Taylor wearing a beautiful flowing turquoise dress and the engagement ring that her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, didn’t get the chance to give her. She is also wearing a cross necklace. Taylor was murdered by the police in her apartment on March 13, 2020.
The police were serving a warrant on an individual that did not reside at Taylor’s residence. They broke into the apartment while the couple was in bed. Walker grabbed his gun to defend himself and Taylor. The police fired, and Walker shot back, hitting one officer in the leg. Taylor was shot five times. She was 26-years-old.
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Sherald’s painting was first seen on the cover of Vanity Fair, accompanying a piece by Ta-Nehisi Coates about Taylor in Aug. 2020.
The exhibition falls on the fifth anniversary opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. “Living History” is the museum’s theme. The portrait is alone in a room behind glass in the museum.
The Museum of African American History and Culture director, Kevin Young, said that having the Taylor portrait displayed at the Smithsonian museum was an important moment in history.
“I think it is a really important moment,” he said. “Our fifth anniversary is a chance to look back, look ahead and look around, a chance to honor the moment we are in.”
The portrait will be at the museum in Washington, D.C., until next May.
