Artist Kehinde Wiley asks to purchase back a painting that U.S. officials removed from the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic. Wiley had created the work for the embassy, and administration officials had publicly mocked it before it was taken down, according to reporting.
The outlets describe that the painting is removed in August and that officials suggest it may be auctioned or otherwise disposed of. One account says the work is removed after being criticized with the label “woke.” Wiley’s request, as described by the two sources, centers on acquiring the painting again rather than seeing it sold or transferred through an auction process.
While both sources agree on the basic sequence—mocking by administration officials, removal from the embassy in the Dominican Republic in August, and Wiley’s bid to buy it back—they differ in emphasis. The New York Times frames Wiley’s move as an effort to reclaim the specific “embassy” painting, while Hyperallergic highlights the “woke” criticism and the request to buy it back.
