Houdon Paul-Louis
1 of 10
Object Label
Though Kehinde Wiley is best known for his painted portraits, here he shifts from painting to sculpture. In both the lift and turn of the young man’s head and the open V of his zippered collar, this bronze refers to an eighteenth-century marble bust by Jean-Antoine Houdon (see illustration).
Yet in many other ways, Wiley’s work could hardly be more different: in substituting male for female, black for white, and present for past, he upends the earlier sculpture even as he quotes it. His radical reinterpretation encourages us to examine the stereotypes that can be found in portraiture.
—Rujeko Hockley, Assistant Curator, Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum
Caption
Kehinde Wiley American, born 1977. Houdon Paul-Louis, 2011. Bronze with polished stone base, 34 x 26 x 19 in. (86.4 x 66 x 48.3 cm) 153 lb. (69.4kg). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund and A. Augustus Healy Fund, 2012.51. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2012.51_threequarter_PS9.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Houdon Paul-Louis
Date
2011
Geography
Place manufactured: China
Medium
Bronze with polished stone base
Classification
Dimensions
34 x 26 x 19 in. (86.4 x 66 x 48.3 cm) 153 lb. (69.4kg)
Credit Line
Frank L. Babbott Fund and A. Augustus Healy Fund
Accession Number
2012.51
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
Copyright for this work may be controlled by the artist, the artist's estate, or other rights holders. A more detailed analysis of its rights history may, however, place it in the public domain. The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Have information?
Have information about an artwork? Contact us at
