Mint Museum acquires painting by the artist who created President Obama portrait

Charlotte’s Mint Museum has added a painting by the artist of President Barack Obama’s portrait as it works to expand its collection of cultural and diverse representation.

The museum said Tuesday it has acquired California native Kehinde Wiley’s 2006 “Philip the Fair” oil on canvas painting, which represents modern urban Black men recast in European old-master paintings.

The painting is a reference to a 15th-century stained-glass image of King Philip the IV of France, who was known as Philip the Fair.

“The Mint Museum continues to grow and refine its collection through purchases and gifts with stellar examples from artists that represent a diverse array of backgrounds and experiences,” Todd Herman, president and CEO at the Mint, said in a statement.

The Mint has not disclosed the cost of the painting, but said it was purchased with funds provided by the Mint Museum Auxiliary, Katherine and Thomas Belk Foundation, and Kelle and Len Botkin.

The piece has been on a long-term loan from a private collector in New Jersey, according to the Mint’s website.

Wiley, who painted the near life-size portrait of the 44th president, and Amy Sherald, who painted first lady Michelle Obama’s portrait, made history when their contemporary interpretations were unveiled four years ago at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

Expanding museum diversity

Wiley’s work is the latest installation at the museum that pledged two years ago to grow its diversity representation.

In June 2020, Herman said that the then-84-year-old Charlotte institution was going to take steps to promote diversity. The change was inspired by Black Lives Matter and the social justice movement following the murder of George Floyd by Minnesota police officers

The Mint’s permanent collections, he said then, were based on a white, male European focus, Herman said at the time.

Jen Sudul Edwards, chief curator and curator of contemporary art at the Mint, described the Mint’s current collection this way: “Not only are the makers of all profiles — international, regional, men, women, nonbinary, young, late career — but the media spans the gamut.”

Other works added to the collection over the past two years that share stories tied to race and cultural experiences are: Willie Cole’s Silex, currently on view in the Mint’s Continuing Conversations exhibition, and Elizabeth Talford Scott’s quilted and appliqued mixed-media piece Untitled (Shield), part of the Mint’s Craft + Design Collection.

The museum also has expanded collections from foreign artists, including works by Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto, Indian fashion designer Anamika Khanna, Canadian artist Simone Saunders, British photographer Sam Taylor-Johnson, Dutch artist Iris van Herpen, Belgium artist Berlinde de Bruyckere, and Spanish artist Nacho Carbonell.

Works by Charlotte-based artists are: Nellie Ashford, MyLoan Dinh, de’Angelo Dia, and Julio Gonzales, that reflect cultural heritage, ancestry and community.

The Mint also has created an online resource list of movies, books and podcasts for “raising anti-racist children.”

2 Rothkos a first for the Mint

Later in the week, the museum had another splashy announcement: It has two paintings by Abstract Expressionist Mark Rothko on long-term loan from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. It’s the first time in the Mint’s 85-year history it has had a Rothko.

The paintings — “No. 17 [or] No. 15” and “Untitled 1951” — are the only paintings by Rothko currently on view in the state, according to the museum. They are on display in the Mint Museum Uptown.

Harry Cooper, senior curator and head of modern and contemporary art at the National Gallery will lecture on “Rothko Becoming Rothko” at 6:30 p.m. April 13 at Mint Museum Uptown.

Want to see the paintings?

The Mint Museum Uptown is at 500 S Tryon St.

The “Philip the Fair” painting is in the American Contemporary galleries.

The Rothkos are in the Modern Contemporary galleries.

Museum admission: Free for members and children ages 4 and younger; $6 for children ages 5–17; $10 for seniors ages 65 and older and college students with ID; and $15 for adults.

Arts editor Adam Bell contributed to this report

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This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 4:07 PM with the headline "Mint Museum acquires painting by the artist who created President Obama portrait."