The exhibit featuring artist Amy Sherald at the Baltimore Museum of Art has once again sold out.
On Saturday, the BMA updated their website to announce that “Tickets for Amy Sherald: American Sublime are sold out.”
Earlier last week, museum officials revealed that this much-anticipated exhibit was fully booked until its closing date on April 5.
On Wednesday, museum representatives shared that they would be releasing approximately 5,400 additional tickets to allow even more visitors to experience the exhibit. This was made possible by giving members early access for two Saturdays this month, on March 14 and 21, as well as by increasing the number of attendees allowed per time slot.
The newly available timed-entry tickets were offered to BMA members starting Wednesday at 5 p.m. and became available for the general public the following day, also at 5 p.m., with a purchase limit of four tickets. Remarkably, within just 48 hours, all additional tickets were sold out.
As reported by the BMA, a record-breaking 72,612 visitors had attended the show or secured tickets by last Wednesday. This surpasses the museum’s previous attendance record since 2000, which was held by the Matisse/Diebenkorn exhibition, attracting around 45,700 visitors in 2016 and 2017.
Recently, Time Magazine recognized Sherald as one of its 16 Women of the Year for 2026. The article highlights the American Sublime exhibit and discusses its unexpected inclusion at the BMA, as it wasn’t originally planned to be shown in Baltimore.
A representative from the BMA mentioned that they are actively considering additional ticketing options, though their possibilities are somewhat constrained. One major concern is security; unlike a restaurant, a museum requires sufficient security personnel to safeguard its collection when visitors are present after hours.
According to a recent assessment presented to Baltimore’s Board of Estimates, the top pieces in the BMA’s collection hold a combined appraised value of several hundred million dollars. In 2020, board members learned that three significant artworks—by Andy Warhol, Clyfford Still, and Brice Marden—alone were valued at an estimated $65 million.
Amy Sherald’s highest auction sale was for her 2015 painting, The Bathers, which fetched an impressive $4.265 million. This painting is part of the American Sublime exhibit and was sold at Phillips New York in December 2020, with the final bid exceeding the high estimate of $200,000 by more than twenty times.
