A visitor with Amy Sherald’s painting “Trans Forming Liberty” (2024) at the Whitney Museum of American Art (photo Hrag Vartanian/Hyperallergic)The painter Amy Sherald has rescinded her upcoming exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in Washington, DC, citing censorship concerns. The artist told the New York Times that she learned the museum was considering removing her portrait of a transgender Statue of Liberty in line with President Donald Trump’s anti-trans mandates.“I entered into this collaboration in good faith, believing that the institution shared a commitment to presenting work that reflects the full, complex truth of American life,” the artist wrote in a letter to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III yesterday, July 23, according to the Times.“Unfortunately, it has become clear that the conditions no longer support the integrity of the work as conceived,” Sherald said.In a statement to Hyperallergic, a Smithsonian spokesperson said that the institution “could not come to an agreement with the artist.”“While we understand Amy’s decision to withdraw her show from the National Portrait Gallery, we are disappointed that Smithsonian audiences will not have an opportunity to experience American Sublime,” the spokesperson added. “We are and continue to be deeply appreciative of her and the integrity of her work.”Sherald told the Times that she had decided to withdraw her show American Sublime after she was “informed that internal concerns had been raised” regarding the inclusion of her painting “Trans Forming Liberty” (2024), which depicts a pink-haired transgender woman holding a torch of flowers. Earlier this week, Sherald said, Bunch had suggested replacing the work with a video of people responding to the painting’s subject matter and commenting on transgender issues — an idea that the artist refused because it would have given a platform to anti-trans views.“The video would have opened up for debate the value of trans visibility and I was opposed to that being a part of the American Sublime narrative,” Sherald told The Times.Hyperallergic has reached out to the artist and her representing gallery, Hauser & Wirth, for comment.Throughout his second term, Trump has waged a ceaseless crusade against trans and gender non-conforming communities. Within hours of his inauguration, the president issued executive orders that mandated essentialist definitions of gender and restricted access to gender-affirming medical care for trans youth. He has since erased trans and queer history from federal websites and refused to recognize Pride Month.In March, Trump issued an executive order attacking what he called “improper ideology” at the Smithsonian Institution, seeking to erase both America’s history of racist violence and any notion of gender identities beyond the binary from the federally funded organization. The mandate gives the vice president the authority to ensure that funds to the Smithsonian “celebrate the achievements of women in the American Women’s History Museum” and “do not recognize men as women in any respect,” denying the existence of transgender and non-binary identities. Trump has also sought to enforce anti-trans guidelines for agencies such as the National Endowment for the Arts, prohibiting federal grantmaking organizations from funding projects that “promote gender ideology.”Following the executive order, Trump claimed he fired the museum’s longtime director Kim Sajet, calling her a “highly partisan person” and a “strong supporter of DEI.” Sajet’s termination, however, remained unclear, as the Smithsonian is an independent, federally backed agency that does not fall under the president’s oversight. Weeks later, Sajet resigned. She was replaced by Bunch with Kevin Gover, who previously worked as the Smithsonian’s under secretary for Museums and Culture.Featuring some of Sherald’s most well-known works, including portraits of former First Lady Michelle Obama and Louisville medical worker Breonna Taylor, American Sublime was slated to travel to the NPG in September, making it the first solo show of a Black contemporary artist at the institution. The show, spanning nearly 50 paintings from 2007 to the present, is currently on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art through August 10.It is unclear whether American Sublime will travel to an alternative venue following the end of its run at the Whitney Museum. Valentina Di Liscia contributed reporting.