"Rumors of War" statue coming home to Richmond
Nov 27, 2019 | 7:20 AM
| RICHMOND
Visual artist Kehinde Wiley, best known for his portrayals of contemporary African-American and African-Diasporic individuals, unveiled his first monumental public sculpture "Rumors of War," an equestrian portraiture of warfare and heroism, Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, in New York's Times Square. The work will be exhibited in Times Square through Dec. 1. (Bebeto Matthews/AP)
A monumental bronze statue that mimics one of Virginia's most prominent Confederate monuments will soon have a new home in Richmond.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports artist Kehinde Wiley's "Rumors of War" will be permanently installed Dec. 10 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
The statue depicts a young black male dressed in streetwear mounted atop a horse and has been on display in Times Square since its unveiling there in September.
The 29-foot-high work originated when Wiley saw Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's statue on Monument Avenue. Wiley is known for his paintings of black Americans and his commissioned portrait of President Barack Obama, displayed at the National Portrait Gallery.
The newspaper says "Rumors of War" is the most expensive acquisition of a sculpture the VMFA has ever made.
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