Collections: Contemporary Art: Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps

20:36 02/10/2009

I stand at least once a month before tis painting contemplating art history, the representation of non-Europeans in art and how Jacques-Louis David has been commented on. Well actually a lot more: I guess that's why this painting truly fascinates me and I never tire of looking at it. I also love it's placement within the museum; a strong statement about what the Brooklyn Museum has meant for me.

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This image is presented as a "thumbnail" because it is protected by copyright. The Brooklyn Museum respects the rights of artists who retain the copyright to their work.

Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps

Painting is about the world that we live in. Black men live in the world. My choice is to include them. This is my way of saying yes to us.

-Kehinde Wiley

Historically, the role of portraiture has been not only to create a likeness but also to communicate ideas about the subject's status, wealth, and power. During the eighteenth century, for example, major patrons from the church and the aristocracy commissioned portraits in part to signify their importance in society. This portrait imitates the posture of the figure of Napoleon Bonaparte in Jacques-Louis David's painting Bonaparte Crossing the Alps at Grand-Saint-Bernard. Wiley transforms the traditional equestrian portrait by substituting an anonymous young Black man dressed in contemporary clothing for the figure of Napoleon. The artist thereby confronts and critiques historical traditions that do not thereby confronts and critiques historical traditions that do not acknowledge Black cultural experience. Wiley presents a new brand of portraiture that redefines and affirms Black identity and simultaneously questions of the history of Western painting.

• Artist: Kehinde Wiley, American, born 1977
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Dates: 2005
• Dimensions: 108 x 108 in. (274.3 x 274.3 cm)
• Collections: Contemporary Art
• Museum Location: This item is on view in Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Pavilion, 1st Floor
• Accession Number: L2005.6
• Credit Line: Collection of Suzi and Andrew B. Cohen
• Image: Overall, L2005.6.jpg. Deitch Projects photograph
Kehinde Wiley (American, born 1977). Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps, 2005. Oil on canvas, 108 x 108 in. (274.3 x 274.3 cm) . Brooklyn Museum, Collection of Suzi and Andrew B. Cohen , L2005.6 (Photo: Deitch Projects, L2005.6.jpg)