The St. Louis Art Museum announced on Wednesday that it has purchased a painting from the artist Kehinde Wiley.
The painting was among 11 portraits by Wiley featured in an exhibit that ended earlier this month at the museum. All of the subjects were African-Americans from the St. Louis region in poses adapted from historic paintings.
The museum acquired “Charles I” for $200,000, which portrays Wellston resident Ashley Cooper striking a pose from a 17th-century painting of the English King Charles I.
“This is a major acquisition for the museum, and it’s going to be an important work in our contemporary collection,” said Simon Kelly, the museum’s curator of modern and contemporary art. “And it’s a permanent record of the show. It will continue to recognize the importance of Kehinde’s work in St. Louis perpetually, now.”
Outside fine-art circles, Wiley is likely best-known for his official portrait of former President Barack Obama, which was unveiled last year.
Hannah Klemm, the museum’s assistant curator for modern and contemporary art, said they had planned the exhibition in 2016 — two years before he unveiled Obama’s portrait.
Wiley studied the museum’s collection before casting north St. Louis residents. He told St. Louis Public Radio in an interview last fall that he wanted to make black St. Louis residents feel included at the museum.
“There is really something wonderful about being able to walk into a hallowed institution like this and see people who look like you,” he said.
They met Ashley Cooper, 31, at a Little Caesar’s pizza by Delmar Boulevard and asked to photograph her. Cooper attended the exhibition about a year later to view the finished product: She saw herself among sky-blue flowers, with her wrist tucked above her hip.
“It’s just amazing. I look so powerful. Such a queen,” Cooper said in an October interview at the museum.
The show was free. An auditorium lecture by Wiley and panel discussion with museum curators and portrait subjects sold out, according to the museum.
Klemm said the show’s turnout exceeded her expectations.
“The fact that it was free, open, very public and in the gallery really brought a lot of people into the museum,” she said.
“Charles I” is not on view at the museum currently. It will be installed this summer in a section featuring other contemporary African-American artists including Nick Cave, Kerry James Marshall and Faith Ringgold.
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