Cupcake Katy, an oil-on-linen portrait by New York artist Will Cotton, will go up on June 18 as part of a rotating display of recent acquisitions, the museum said Wednesday.
The painting, completed in 2010, is being gifted to the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery by the James Dicke family, whose wealth and large art collection derive from a global forklift truck business based in Ohio.
In a statement, National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet said the tongue-in-cheek work “brings to mind a traditional European portrait of a bewitching 18th century belle – Madame de Pompadour, perhaps?”
Sajet added: “Sweet but no mere piece of ‘candy,’ the woman is accessorized but not labeled – she’s the one in control.”
Perry, 29, is among the biggest names in pop music today, with a raft of Top 10 hits including California Gurls, Teenage Dream and Firework, and a reputation for wildly colorful shows.
She’s scheduled to bring her ongoing Prismatic concert tour to Washington’s Verizon Center arena – across the street from the National Portrait Gallery, as it happens – on June 24 and 25.
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