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Emmett

Spotted

Kehinde Wiley — Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness
Kehinde Wiley

Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness

2013

Kehinde Wiley reinterprets the classical biblical subject of Saint John the Baptist through his signature lens of contemporary Black masculinity, depicting a modern man in casual street wear against an explosively ornate deep red ground teeming with exotic birds, peacocks, and lush botanical motifs drawn from Indo Persian textile traditions. The figure holds his hand in a pose reminiscent of Old Master devotional painting while vibrant floral vines creep across his jeans, dissolving the boundary between subject and background in a hallmark Wiley compositional strategy. This monumental oil on canvas exemplifies Wiley's ongoing project of inserting underrepresented subjects into the canon of Western art history, making it a highly compelling acquisition for collectors focused on contemporary figuration, identity driven painting, or the legacy of portraiture in the 21st century.

Medium
Oil on canvas

Est. Current Value

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Spotted works by Kehinde Wiley

About this work

Kehinde Wiley, Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness, 2013

Kehinde Wiley reinterprets the classical biblical subject of Saint John the Baptist through his signature lens of contemporary Black masculinity, depicting a modern man in casual street wear against an explosively ornate deep red ground teeming with exotic birds, peacocks, and lush botanical motifs drawn from Indo Persian textile traditions. The figure holds his hand in a pose reminiscent of Old Master devotional painting while vibrant floral vines creep across his jeans, dissolving the boundary between subject and background in a hallmark Wiley compositional strategy. This monumental oil on canvas exemplifies Wiley's ongoing project of inserting underrepresented subjects into the canon of Western art history, making it a highly compelling acquisition for collectors focused on contemporary figuration, identity driven painting, or the legacy of portraiture in the 21st century.

Medium
Oil on canvas
Year
2013
Seen at
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, United States

Related themes

Cultural Recontextualization, Living Artist, Figurative Painting, Exotic Birds, 21st Century Painting, Blue Chip, Museum Quality, Black Figurative Art, Bold Color, Floral Background, Vibrant, Figure, Ornate Background, American, Identity, Biblical Subject, Kehinde Wiley, Spirituality, Portraiture, Street Wear, Large Scale Painting, African American Art, Oil On Canvas, Botanical Pattern, Contemporary Portraiture, Black Artist, Religious Subject, Large Format, 21st Century, Portrait, Peacock Motif, Identity Art, Religious Iconography, Floral, Ornamental Background, Painting, Figurative, Contemporary Realism, Contemporary

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Collected by

Emmett