John Wilson

John Woodrow Wilson (American, b. 1922)

A figurative sculptor and printmaker, Wilson was born in Roxbury, MA and educated at SMFA and Tufts (1947). He also studied in Paris with modernist artist Fernand Léger and in Mexico City in 1952 with the Mexican muralists. In his graphic work, he frequently depicts anonymous working-class figures with exaggerated features; while his sculptures are monumental African American heads that he claims express a “universal humanity.” Wilson taught at Boston University (1965-84) and won a 1985 commission to sculpt Martin Luther King, Jr. for the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

Important Source Material:

Gaither, Edmund Barry and Shelley R. Langdale. Dialogue: John Wilson/Joseph Norman. Boston: Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists in association with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1995.

NHS