2008
Named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of 2018, American painter Kehinde Wiley (b. 1977) is one of the most widely recognized artists of his generation, best known for re-creating Old Masters works with contemporary Black subjects.
Take, for instance, his large-scale masterpiece Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps (2005): The painting is nearly identical in both composition and name to Jacques-Louis David’s Bonaparte Crossing the Alps (1800–1), but instead of the French general posed atop a rearing horse, it’s a modern-day Black man, dressed in fatigues and Timberland boots, against a decorative patterned backdrop. Through such paintings and sculptures, Wiley engages in a political act, acknowledging the omission of Black and other nonwhite figures from historical and cultural narratives — especially as seen through the lens of European portraiture — and introducing them as heroes in poses and positions of power.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Wiley discovered his talents as a photorealistic portrait painter as a child, refining them at the San Francisco Art Institute, where he earned his BFA, and at the Yale University School of Art, where he earned his MFA. His art draws from a range of influences; while his paintings are most associated with Old Master portraits, particularly in the Venitian tradition of Titian and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Wiley often sets his subjects in front of ornate patterned backgrounds that reference African textiles and Islamic architecture. In 2017, the artist was commissioned by President Barack Obama to paint his official portrait to hang in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Wiley has garnered numerous accolades, including the U.S. Department of State Medal of Arts, the Brooklyn Museum Asher B. Durand Award for Artistic Achievement, the American Federation for Arts Cultural Leadership Award and the Pratt Legend Award. His works can be found in the collections of acclaimed institutions around the world, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the Zabludowicz Collection in London.
Find art by Kehinde Wiley on 1stDibs.
Alios Itzhak Israel (Hand Signed by Kehinde Wiley) Skateboard deck Jewish Museum
By Kehinde Wiley
Located in New York, NY
Jewish Museum x Kehinde Wiley Alios Itzhak (The Worldstage: Israel), 2011 Transfer print on 100% Canadian maplewood skate deck. Autographed by Kehinde Wiley in black marker Edition ...
Wood
Kehinde Wiley - Passing/Posing Paintings & Faux Chapel, 18 prints in bespoke box
By Kehinde Wiley
Located in New York, NY
Kehinde Wiley Passing/Posing, Paintings & Faux Chapel (suite of 18 separate prints), 2004 Portfolio of 18 Separate Color offset lithographs in original black paste board portfoli...
Ink, Mixed Media, Board, Laid Paper, Lithograph, Offset
Kehinde Wiley - Christian Martyr Tarcisius Limited Edition skate deck skateboard
By Kehinde Wiley
Located in New York, NY
Kehinde Wiley Christian Martyr Tarcisius (El Hadjii Malick Gueye), Limited Edition skate deck, 2022 Color silkscreen on limited edition maple wood Skateboard Skate Deck Signed in pla...
Maple, Screen
Kerry James Marshall - Keeping the Culture, silkscreen and linocut, Signed/N
By Kerry James Marshall
Located in New York, NY
Kerry James Marshall Keeping the Culture, 2011 Silkscreen and linocut in colors with full margins and deckled edges on Arches paper with full margins and deckled edges 20-1/4 x 30-1/4 inches Hand signed, titled and numbered 79/100 by Kerry James Marshall in graphite pencil on the front Published by Africa House International, Chicago Unframed In September, 2025, "Kerry James Marshall: The Histories" opened at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. This major exhibition was the largest presentation of Marshall's work in the United Kingdom and Europe, and featured more than 70 works by the the artist, including a large number of paintings and a selection of prints, drawings and sculptures. Highlights of the show include a new series of paintings that explore the transatlantic slave trade, along with Knowledge and Wonder, a mural commissioned in 1995 by the Chicago Public Library that is the largest painting Marshall has produced. The exhibition at the Royal Academy will then travel to the Kunsthaus Zurich and the Musee d'Art Modern in Paris. Kerry James Marshall's 2011 "Keeping the Culture" is based upon the artist's eponymous painting done the year earlier, which is featured in the Royal Academy Exhibition. In 2013, an original painting, upon which this work is based, sold at Christie's auction. Below is the Christie's Lot Essay for that painting: ..." Set in a revolutionary apartment in the cosmos, Kerry James Marshall's Keeping the Culture optimistically anticipates a future that pays homage to the past. Ushering in a new stage of the artist's output, Keeping the Culture shifts focus from the failed utopia of urban renewal and the commemoration of civil rights era heroes in favor of a more technically refined meditation on the preservation of the traditional and spiritual values that shaped a culture. Placed in an ultramodern environment, two siblings marvel at a projection of the earth--in which Marshall has aptly positioned the African continent toward the viewer-while their affectionate parents dance in the foreground. Overlooking the milky way, Marshall's space-age flat is decorated with earthly relics-wooden tribal sculptures...
Mixed Media, Pencil, Linocut, Screen
David LaChapelle American Jesus Kasmin print (Hand Signed by David LaChapelle)
By David LaChapelle
Located in New York, NY
This work was published for the exhibition, American Jesus, held 13 July - 18 September 2010 at Paul Kasmin, New York in cooperation with Fred Torres Colla...
Lithograph, Offset, Ink
Yinka Shonibare, Fabric-ation, monograph, handmade fabric, SIGNED 21/50, Unique
By Yinka Shonibare
Located in New York, NY
Yinka Shonibare Fabric-ation, 2013 Original Dutch wax print fabric chosen by the artist on Hardback cloth bound monograph with fabric covered board 12 1/2 × 11 × 1 1/2 inches Edition...
Fabric, Textile, Ink, Mixed Media, Offset
Kehinde Wiley 'Dimietrus Study' Signed Archival Pigment Print 2021
By Kehinde Wiley
Located in Miami, FL
Kehinde Wiley (1977-Present) Dimietrus Study This signed limited edition print by Kehinde Wiley is executed in archival ink on paper and presented in the artist’s custom frame. Sign...
Pigment
"Embedded Worth" - contemporary digitally manipulated portraiture, Kehinde Wiley
Located in Atlanta, GA
This listing is for an unframed print. Tokie Rome-Taylor is inspired by the works of Harmonia Rosales, Kehinde Wiley, Tawny Chatmon, Ayana V. Jackson, Omar Victor Diop, Deborah Roberts...
Pigment
Unexpected Awakening, Contemporary Fabric on Canvas, 2010+, Unframed
By Jeffery Baidoo
Located in London, GB
Jeffery’s journey into the realm of collage was sparked by an enlightening visit to his tailor. Upon seeing the remnants of fabric destined for waste, he envisioned their potential a...
Fabric, Canvas, Newsprint
"Preparation of a Seer" - contemporary portrait - Kehinde Wiley
Located in Atlanta, GA
This listing is for an unframed print. Tokie Rome-Taylor is inspired by the works of Harmonia Rosales, Kehinde Wiley, Tawny Chatmon, Ayana V. Jackson, Omar Victor Diop, Deborah Roberts...
Pigment
"Courage to Hold On" contemporary African portraiture, bandana, strong young man
By Theophilus Tetteh
Located in Edgartown, MA
In his work, Tetteh condenses the internal sentiments and tensions of his characters and focuses them, using the eyes as the outlet for expression. In this way his subjects become in...
Canvas, Acrylic
Tears4 2Pac - signed limited edition Oversize print Tupac Shakur
By BATIK
Located in London, GB
Tupac by BATIK Pop art print of a mugshot of rapper music artist Tupac Shakur originally taken August 3, 1995. On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times by an unidentified ...
Color, Archival Pigment
Once built for curbs and handrails, these boards now hang beside blue-chip works in major museums and collectors’ homes.
Americans are rediscovering the globe-trotting painter and poet, who was connected to all sorts of art movements across a long and varied career.
