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© Kehinde Wiley. Used by permission
After Memling’s Portrait of a Man with a Letter
201324 1/2 x 19 3/4 x 4 13/16 in. (62.2 x 50.1 x 12.2 cm)
Kehinde Wiley
United States
Object Type:
Painting
Medium and Support:
Oil on wood panel in artist-designed hand-fabricated wood frame
Credit Line:
Marion Stratton Gould Fund
Accession Number:
2013.79
Location: Currently on view
This portrait is one of eight in Kehinde Wiley’s series based upon the work of Northern Renaissance painter Hans Memling (1430–1494). Memling created sensitive, quiet portraits of the growing merchant class of his time set within landscapes and cast in natural light. Here, Wiley blends Memling’s style with contemporary street culture in a way that elevates and immortalizes his modern sitter, a resident of Brooklyn, Rafton Glean (his name is painted on the doors of the frame).
Wiley has explained, “I try to use the black body in my work to counter the absence of that body in museum spaces throughout the world.” In 2018, the artist was chosen by President Barack Obama to paint his official portrait (right), now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. At the unveiling, the President commended Wiley for his ability to show “the beauty and the grace and the dignity” of black people.
[Label text for Hawks Gallery reinstallation, summer 2019]
Wiley has explained, “I try to use the black body in my work to counter the absence of that body in museum spaces throughout the world.” In 2018, the artist was chosen by President Barack Obama to paint his official portrait (right), now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. At the unveiling, the President commended Wiley for his ability to show “the beauty and the grace and the dignity” of black people.
[Label text for Hawks Gallery reinstallation, summer 2019]
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Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions:
- Centennial Acquisitions Fall 2013 - ?
- Kehinde Wiley: Memling Phoenix Art Museum 7/11/2014 - 10/5/2014
Bibliography
This object has the following bibliographic references:
- Memorial Art Gallery. ARTiculate. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 2000--.
- Article Scope: Reproduction only. Connie H. Choi. Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.
- Article Scope: Entry and reproduction. Kehinde Wiley : Memling. Phoenix, AZ: Phoenix Art Museum, 2013.
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