The Girl Next Door... Amy Sherald (asherald) painted Breonna Taylor in the summer of 2020, during the historic protests that erupted following the police killings of Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, and George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as well as other racially motivated acts of violence across the United States. Taylor was a vivacious twenty-six-year-old loved by family and friends and building a career as an emergency medical technician; her life story and the horrific circumstances of her death at the hands of police became known around the world. She remains a galvanizing symbol of the devastating impact on a family and community of a life lost, as well as the ongoing toll of racism, gun violence, and excessive force on the American social fabric. vanityfair magazine commissioned Sherald to create a portrait of Taylor for its August 2020 cover. She noted that she made this work “to codify this historical moment, and in honor of all the lives that were lost-specifically, the...