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The cover of the August 11, 2025, issue by artist Amy Sherald features a portrait of transgender model and performance artist Areva Basit. The piece is on display in Sherald’s exhibition “American Sublime,” currently on view at the Whitney Museum. The exhibition was originally scheduled to open next month at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., but Sherald learned that the painting might be removed from the exhibit. In response to her concerns that the Smithsonian was bowing to political pressure, she decided to cancel her exhibition. A Smithsonian spokesperson said they were seeking to contextualize the painting rather than replace it, but the Trump administration’s White House criticized the inclusion of Sherald’s work in the exhibition. Lindsay Halligan, special assistant to the president, released a statement saying the painting was a reimagining of “one of our nation’s most sacred symbols through the lens of division and ideology.”
“‘Transforming Freedom’ questions who we allow to embody our national symbols and who we erase,” Sherald said. “It demands a more complete understanding of freedom that includes the dignity of all bodies and all identities. Freedom is not fixed. It changes, and so must we. This portrait is an encounter with that truth.”
More covers that addressed important social and political issues of their time can be seen below:
“The Open-Minded Mayor” by Art Spiegelman
“The Politics of Fear” by Barry Blitt
Sourse: newyorker.com
