I will be discussing the comparison and difference of “Two Napoleons in Brooklyn, One in Timberlands” by Kehinde Wiley. His work has opened the concept of how art is defining the “standard” sense of art. It has made others to reflect and open their minds. The show has brought a great deal of attention from the media and the general public.

The first piece is “Bonaparte Crossing the Alps” by Jacques-Louis David. The piece is to commemorate Napoleon’s victory during the Battle of Marengo. It betrays Napoleon riding a horse in the battlefield, with his posture of an honorable leader and his finger pointing to the sky. However, Kehinde Wiley has done the same painting with a twist. It features a black man with a more modern outfit and different background. David’s piece has Napoleon in a traditional general uniform with some gold to show status. Wiley’s figure has a modern camo outfit while wearing a Timberland boot. The figure is also wearing a white bandana and red wristbands. In Wiley’s, the figure and horse are posed similar to David’s. Though the black man is on a red velvet background with gold decorative floral deigns different from David’s realism background of the battlefield. Those pieces are shown differently, but they contain the same posture and fierce “status” while being on the horse. Wiley is portraying the character to have the same status of power-based wear and composition. The character is also covered in a gold cape to symbolize wealth or power like Napoleon’s position in the ranks.

Wiley wanted to use the concept from the 1800s perspective of art and translate it to modern times. The way they position their figures and how they show the story behind it. He took those concepts and created them to his liking of what’s happening now in society. To show how older art styles can still be applied to modern times is a great notion. It gives the viewers a different perspective of how just methods can still be translated throughout time.