Kehinde Wiley
Kehinde Wiley (1977 - present)
Born on February 28, 1977 in Los Angeles, CA
Earned a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1999, and his MFA from Yale University in 2001
Travels to Russia and to Nigeria influenced his style of portrait painting
Known for painting modern-day Black people in an ‘Old Master’ style used when painting royalty
CBS News Sunday Morning featured a story about Wiley in 2015. Five years later, CBS News followed up with him to speak about painting the President of the United States. You can watch the full Unveiling of the portraits here, or a two minute clip here. The Obama portraits are on tour at the MFA through October 30, 2022 - you can see them up close and personal! The MFA also owns another painting by Wiley, titled, John, 1st Baron Byron.
What do you notice? ✏️ What do you wonder? ✏️ What do you like or dislike?
In April 2018, I visited the portrait of President Obama at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.
It was pretty popular...