The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery is acquiring a history-making photograph of Beyoncé, the photographer announced Wednesday.
The photograph comes from the September 2018 issue of Vogue and was shot by Tyler Mitchell.
Just 23-years-old at the time, Mitchell became the first African American photographer to shoot the cover of Vogue in its 125-year history. He posted the announcement on social media Wednesday.
Mitchell announced the news online on Tuesday. “A year ago today we broke the flood gates open,” Mitchell wrote on Instagram.
“Since then it was important to spend the whole year running through them making sure every piece of the gate was knocked down. And now I’m glad to share this picture is being acquired.”
In the Vogue photograph, called See Your Halo – one of a series Mitchell took for the issue – Beyoncé leans on a white column as she looks at the camera, wearing a shimmering Valentino dress and a gold Philip Treacy London headpiece.
A 23-time Grammy Award winner, the star saw her film of her critically acclaimed Coachella performance be nominated for six Emmys.
The museum says it’s under discussion as to when the photograph – the gallery’s second of Beyoncé – will go on view, as it will not be on permanent display.
Since 2013, it says, the museum has aimed to ensure that half of its acquisitions feature subjects or artists that make the museum’s collections more diverse. The gallery has also said on Twitter that its mission is “to tell the story of America” by portraying the people who shape its “history, development, and culture.”
