Kehinde Wiley is a contemporary American portrait painter known for his paired representation of people of color with art historical signifiers of power, majesty, and heroism. Wiley rose to the world stage in 2017 when President Barack Obama chose the artist to paint his official presidential portrait; the painting is now on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Art in Washington, D.C. Kehinde Wiley was born in Los Angeles in February 1977. His father is Nigerian citizen, and returned to the country when Wiley was young, leaving Wiley’s mother to raise him and his twin brother. Wiley showed an early interest in art, taking classes and traveling to Russia to participate in an art program. Wiley received a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, and an MFA from Yale University, School of Art. Wiley’s signature style blends the representative style found in Master paintings with contemporary subjects and themes. Many of his works explore ideas of Black masculinity using signifiers from Western art history; an example of this can be seen in some of Wiley’s best-known works, Napoleon Leading the Army Over the Alps (2005), in which a Black man sits astride a rearing horse, closely mimicking the pose seen in Jacques-Louis David’s Napoleon Crossing the Alps (1800). Or similarly, in Wiley’s sculpture Rumors of War, an equestrian portrait of a Harlem resident that was on display in Times Square in 2019. The first solo exhibition of Wiley’s work took place in 2006, at the Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio; subsequent solo exhibitions were held at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Pennsylvania Academy Of Fine Arts, The Jewish Museum and the Brooklyn Museum, among other institutions. Today, works by Wiley are held in the permanent collections of such institutions as the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota; the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, California; the Jewish Museum in New York City; and the Phoenix Art Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, among other institutions.

Kehinde Wiley

Contemporary Day Auction

Property from a Distinguished West Coast Collection

Property from a Distinguished West Coast Collection Kehinde Wiley b. 1977 Portrait of a Male Figure acrylic on canvas in artist's chosen frame 79 by 59 in. 200.7 by 149.9 cm. Executed in 2020.

View 1 of Lot 691: Portrait of a Male Figure

portrait of a male figure

Triple Portrait of Charles II, Blue&nbsp;by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Kehinde+Wiley&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kehinde Wiley</a>, 2026.<ul><li>Kehinde Wiley (American, born 1977).</li><li>LITO Hi-Rnd© print on alu dibond.</li><li>Limited Edition of 20.</li><li>Hand-signed and numbered by the artist via adhered backplate.</li><li>This work is sold with aluminum frame.</li></ul> Sotheby’s LIMITED and LITO present original works by contemporary artists brought to life through the LITO Hi-Rnd© process, with texture, relief and color. The series is based on Kehinde Wiley’s 2008 painting Triple Portrait of Charles II. Drawing on the historical tradition of multi-view portraiture, this work explore identity as layered and constructed rather than singular. The composition features engraved floral elements against mirrored background. Shop Sotheby's <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/fine-art/editions/LIMITED" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LIMITED</a>, exclusive editions created in collaboration with leading contemporary artists only available at Sotheby's. <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/introducing-the-sothebys-limited-patron-program" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Elevate your experience – join our Sotheby's LIMITED Patron Program</a>

Triple Portrait of Charles II | Blue

Triple Portrait of Charles II, Mirrored&nbsp;by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Kehinde+Wiley&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kehinde Wiley</a>, 2026.<ul><li>Kehinde Wiley (American, born 1977).</li><li>LITO Hi-Rnd© print on alu dibond.</li><li>Limited Edition of 20</li><li>Hand-signed and numbered by the artist via adhered backplate.</li><li>This work is sold with aluminium frame.</li></ul> Sotheby’s LIMITED and LITO present original works by contemporary artists brought to life through the LITO Hi-Rnd© process, with texture, relief and color. The series is based on Kehinde Wiley’s 2008 painting Triple Portrait of Charles II. Drawing on the historical tradition of multi-view portraiture, this work explore identity as layered and constructed rather than singular. The composition features engraved floral elements against mirrored background. Shop Sotheby's <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/fine-art/editions/LIMITED" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LIMITED</a>, exclusive editions created in collaboration with leading contemporary artists only available at Sotheby's. <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/introducing-the-sothebys-limited-patron-program" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Elevate your experience – join our Sotheby's LIMITED Patron Program</a>

Triple Portrait of Charles II | Mirrored

Triple Portrait of Charles II, Gold&nbsp;by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Kehinde+Wiley&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kehinde Wiley</a>, 2026.<ul><li>Kehinde Wiley (American, born 1977).</li><li>LITO Hi-Rnd© print on alu dibond.</li><li>Limited Edition of 20.</li><li>Hand-signed and numbered by the artist via adhered backplate.</li><li>This work is sold with aluminum frame.</li></ul> Sotheby’s LIMITED and LITO present original works by contemporary artists brought to life through the LITO Hi-Rnd© process, with texture, relief and color. The series is based on Kehinde Wiley’s 2008 painting Triple Portrait of Charles II. Drawing on the historical tradition of multi-view portraiture, this work explore identity as layered and constructed rather than singular. The composition features engraved floral elements against mirrored background. Shop Sotheby's <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/fine-art/editions/LIMITED" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LIMITED</a>, exclusive editions created in collaboration with leading contemporary artists only available at Sotheby's. <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/introducing-the-sothebys-limited-patron-program" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Elevate your experience – join our Sotheby's LIMITED Patron Program</a>

Triple Portrait of Charles II | Gold

Tomb of Pope Alexander VII Study I, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=kehinde+wiley&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kehinde WIley</a>, 2016.<ul><li>Kehinde Wiley (American, born 1977).</li><li>Hand embellished pigment print on paper in artist’s frame.</li><li>Signed, dated and numbered on recto.</li><li>Edition PP 5/5.</li><li>This work is presented framed.</li></ul>

Tomb of Pope Alexander VII Study I

Sophie Arnould Study II, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=kehinde+wiley&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kehinde WIley</a>, 2016.<ul><li>Kehinde Wiley (American, born 1977).</li><li>Hand embellished pigment print on paper in artist’s frame.</li><li>Signed, dated and numbered on recto.</li><li>Edition PP 5/5.</li><li>This work is presented framed.</li></ul>

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