Kehinde Wiley, the artist known for painting former President Barack Obama’s official portrait, has sought to reclaim a painting removed from the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic after officials criticized and removed it earlier this year. The artwork, titled “Young Artists After Siamesas 1960,” was commissioned in 2013 by the State Department’s Art in Embassies program. Wiley sent a letter last week requesting to purchase the piece back, following its removal and a proposal by embassy officials to potentially sell it.

The controversy began when Leah Campos, the U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic, objected to the painting shortly after assuming her post. Campos described the image—a composition featuring four young people posed against a floral backdrop—as depicting a “lesbian picnic,” a characterization Wiley said confused him. Erin Scavino, head of the Art in Embassies program and a former reality TV contestant married to a close aide of President Donald Trump, was involved in the decision to remove the artwork. Scavino described the painting as “aesthetically terrifying” in a podcast interview.

The State Department initially avoided explaining the grounds for the painting’s removal, instead raising questions about Wiley’s reputation in light of sexual assault allegations against him, which Wiley has denied. Campos publicly voiced her opinion on Dominican radio, reinforcing her negative view of the painting. Wiley suggested in an interview that the comments could reflect underlying homophobia, noting the painting’s celebration of queer and young people of color but lamenting the fear and stereotyping that led to its rejection.

Wiley called the episode “a deep sadness” and expressed frustration that his work—a project borne from two years of study and collaboration with local Dominican art students—was misunderstood and politicized. In his letter to administration officials, including President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Campos, and Scavino, Wiley emphasized his intention for embassy art to foster cultural connections and offered to buy back the painting if the U.S. government no longer wished to display it.

The incident unfolded amid broader efforts by the Trump administration to reshape federal cultural programs, with officials aiming to remove works they view as promoting liberal or unpatriotic narratives. The administration’s actions have targeted institutions such as the Smithsonian and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, but it is rare for a specific artist like Wiley to be singled out.

Wiley is preparing for a major exhibition in New York this fall—his first significant U.S. show in nearly two years despite the earlier cancellations of museum exhibitions following the assault allegations. He expressed hope that the painting’s return might coincide with a renewed focus on his career and work. The White House declined to comment on the painting’s removal, while the State Department and Scavino did not respond to requests for comment.