Beyoncé, Instagram
The modern-day Mona Lisa, captured by Tyler Mitchell.
As of right now, Beyoncé is the subject of a college course based on her career, has the 19th highest-grossing movie of all time, and for the second time, she's going to be on permanent display in the National Portrait Gallery's collection in Washington, D.C. — with a full head of cornrows, no less.
The image set to display is one of the many portraits of Bey Tyler Mitchell took for last year's Vogue September issue, which marked the first time a black person has shot the cover of Vogue in its 125-year history. Mitchell was also one of the youngest photographers to ever shoot for the legendary fashion magazine. The image features Queen Bey in a gold sequin Valentino dress, her long, blonde cornrows braided into gentle plaits, topped off with an extravagant Philip Treacy fascinator, reminiscent of a starburst. Mitchell announced the acquisition Tuesday on Instagram:
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Tyler Mitchell(@tylersphotos) on Aug 6, 2019 at 6:09am PDT
"A year ago today we broke the flood gates open. Since then it was important to spend the whole year running through them making sure every piece of the gate was knocked down," Mitchell writes in the caption. It's a tremendous accomplishment for the young photographer, who has clearly been having the best 12 months ever.
He (and the Beyhive, of course) aren't the only ones excited about the new addition to the gallery. "We are delighted to acquire this magnificent portrait of Beyoncé," Leslie Ureña, associate curator of photographs at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, told CNN. Details as to when viewers can go and worship at the altar — uh, I mean, see the portrait— of Beyoncé are still to come.
Guess it looks like we're planning a trip to D.C. soon. We'll see the Lincoln Memorial, go to the Natural History Museum and try to steal the Hope Diamond, then hang out with Queen Bey.
[Via
