Kehinde Wiley Wants to Buy His Embassy Painting Back from President Trump

Wiley's gallery, Sean Kelly Gallery, shared a letter that Wiley had sent to President Trump and Marco Rubio on September 24.

Kehinde Wiley writes: 

Thursday, September 24, 2026

President Trump,

I am writing regarding Young Artists After Siamesas 1960, the painting I created for the United States Embassy in Santo Domingo through the State Department’s Art in Embassies program.

I understand that the painting has been removed from the embassy and that the State Department is now considering whether it can be sold.

If your administration has determined that it no longer wishes to display the work, I would like to ask for the opportunity to purchase it back.

I created this painting for a particular place and with a particular purpose. I spent two years studying the work of Dominican artists and worked with young artists in Santo Domingo in making it. The four people depicted in the painting are Dominican art students.

The idea was a simple one: that an American embassy could be a place where people see something of themselves, and that art could create a connection between our country and theirs. That has long been my understanding of the purpose of the Art in Embassies program and of the role that artists can play in cultural diplomacy.

I understand that your administration has reached a different conclusion about this painting and no longer believes it belongs in the embassy. However the painting remains important to me, as do the people and the ideas that it represents. If your administration no longer has a place for it, I would be grateful for the opportunity to bring it home and I am prepared to purchase the work through the appropriate lawful process.

I hope you and Secretary Rubio will consider my request.

Yours Sincerely,

[Signature]

Kehinde Wiley.

Main Image: Young Artists After Siamesas 1960 (2015), Source IG