Collection
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Contemporary Art

Passing/Posing (Female Prophet Anne, Who Observes the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple)

Kehinde Wiley

Object Label

Kehinde Wiley presents large-scale portraits of young black men as saints and angels, in poses inspired by paintings from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In creating these monumental paintings, Wiley borrows poses, imagery, and titles from works by master painters such as Tiepolo (1727–1804). Dressed in their everyday clothes, the figures float over flat, brightly colored backgrounds suggestive of infinite space. By placing these "new" subjects within the context of art history, Wiley challenges the prevailing representations of black men in contemporary American society.

Caption

Kehinde Wiley (American, born 1977). Passing/Posing (Female Prophet Anne, Who Observes the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple), 2003. Oil on canvas mounted on panel, 96 x 60 x 1 1/2 in. (243.8 x 152.4 x 3.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Mary Smith Dorward Fund and Healy Purchase Fund B, 2003.90.2. © Kehinde Wiley. Courtesy Sean Kelly Gallery, New York.

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Passing/Posing (Female Prophet Anne, Who Observes the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple)

Date

2003

Medium

Oil on canvas mounted on panel

Classification

Painting

Dimensions

96 x 60 x 1 1/2 in. (243.8 x 152.4 x 3.8 cm)

Credit Line

Mary Smith Dorward Fund and Healy Purchase Fund B

Accession Number

2003.90.2

Rights

© Kehinde Wiley. Courtesy Sean Kelly Gallery, New York

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Frequent Art Questions

  • Is this an original painting or a copy?

    It is an original painting and it directly references works from the history of art. Wiley poses his models in the same gestures from the history of art. I am curious, what about this work looked like it might be a copy?
    Firstly, there's no plaque with name of artist and the color doesn't look like paint. What kind of paint does the artist use?
    Wiley uses oil paint in his work and paints in a manner that his brushstrokes are not so visible (especially from a distance). The object label with artist, title, and information is located near the entrance to that gallery (to the right of the video installation).

  • Who is depicted here?

    For that piece, Kehinde Wiley did not actually give us the name of the sitter. For many of his works, Wiley asks men that he meets on the street to pose for his work (although he has admitted to sometimes using models). We don't know for this piece if this is one of the men he met on the street or if this is a model.
    Wiley's process of painting these portraits is very interesting. He often collaborates with the men he paints, letting them chose their poses from art history books and letting them pose in their favorite clothes. This pose is based on a painting titled "Female Prophet Anne, Who Observes the Presentation of Jesus on the Temple."

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Artists and makers

Kehinde Wiley

9 works in the collection