Paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, illustrated books: the artist John Wilson (1922-2015) stood out in many art media with his high-quality and socially critical works. Injustices of all kinds preoccupied the artist, who stood his ground at a time when black artists were confronted with many obstacles. Many white-run museums and galleries in the USA refused to exhibit works by Black artists. Especially from the 1950s onwards, Wilson's work became increasingly political, such as his unpreserved mural The Incident (1952), which was installed in a school and shows a Black family witnessing a lynching. Wilson was a proponent of murals and public art, as it is accessible to all people without restrictions. With the exhibition Witnessing Humanity: The Art of John Wilson, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is dedicating its largest show to him to date. The majority of the approximately 110 exhibits come from the museum's collection and can be seen there from February 8 to June 22.
In 1945, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston purchased the first work of art by Wilson for its collection: Streetcar Scene, an allegorical lithograph about Wilson's challenges finding work as a Black artist. John Wilson, who taught at Boston University from 1964 to 1986, influenced numerous young artists in the Boston area with his works and won various awards. One of his most important works of art is the bust of Martin Luther King Jr. that was unveiled in the Capitol in Washington, D.C. in 1986. It was the first work of art in the Capitol to be erected in honor of a Black American. Wilson was also a supporter of the founding of the National Center of Afro-American Artists (NCAAA) in 1968 in Roxbury, the Boston neighborhood where he was born.
