BOSTON, MASS.- Born in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood, John Wilson (1922–2015) is one of the city’s most esteemed artists, who dedicated his career to imagining different futures, exposing injustices, and advocating for authentic and positive representation of Black Americans. For more than six decades, he made powerful works that continue to resonate with the persistent realities of disenfranchisement and inequality. Co-organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Witnessing Humanity: The Art of John Wilson is the largest-ever exhibition of the artist’s work. Featuring approximately 110 works in a wide range of media—drawings, prints, paintings, sculptures, and illustrated books—the retrospective explores how Wilson’s work speaks to shared experiences, while also displaying his personal search for identity as an artist, Black man, parent, and American.

The MFA has the largest collection of Wilson’s art, having acquired its first work in 1946, and Witnessing Humanity presents more than 20 new acquisitions that are on view for the first time. Additionally, the exhibition includes rarely seen loans from the Wilson family and significant loans from institutions and private collectors.

The exhibition is co-curated by: Edward Saywell, the MFA’s Chair of Prints and Drawings; Patrick Murphy, the MFA’s Lia and William Poorvu Curator of Prints and Drawings; Leslie King Hammond, art historian, professor emerita, and founding director for the Center for Race and Culture at Maryland Institute College of Art; and Jennifer Farrell, Jordan Schnitzer Curator, Department of Drawings and Prints at the Met.

“John Wilson believed passionately that art could empower and change society,” said Saywell. “He saw his art as a political act, a means to bring the visibility of Black experience to the fore. His work, expressed with such brilliant virtuosity, is witness to humanity in all its complexity. This exhibition celebrates Wilson’s compassion, empathy, and fearlessness, and how his works have the power to touch us all in their profoundly human and universal emotions.”

“Throughout his career, John Wilson sought to reveal the dignity, radiant beauty, and character of each his subjects. He believed his imagery validated the humanness of African Americans, not thought to be worthy of beautifully dignified, poignant portrayals,” said King Hammond. “Through masterful draughtsmanship skills, an intense attention to detail, and acute observations of the human body, Wilson recorded hundreds of figurative studies while he cared for his family. This exhibition demonstrates his intense love of family, friends, and community—his muses and the catalysts and inspiration that focused all his creative energies.”

The exhibition is on view in the MFA’s Lois B. and Michael K. Torf Gallery from February 8 through June 22, 2025, and is included in general admission. Following the MFA’s presentation, the exhibition will travel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where it will be on view from September 20, 2025, through February 8, 2026.

Witnessing Humanity is presented in four sections, offering an in-depth look at Wilson’s life and career as an artist:

The first gallery reflects the young artist’s frustrations with the absence of positive representations of Black people in art history textbooks and cultural institutions, including the MFA. The works shown here are Wilson’s response to these omissions, providing images of Black dignity while addressing the painful realities of racial prejudice and social injustice. In many of these works, Wilson depicts a central figure whose gaze confronts the viewer directly, demanding attention and reclaiming personal agency. In addition to a strong group of self-portraits, the gallery includes prints Wilson made during his time as a student at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1939–1944). Lithographs such as Deliver Us from Evil (1943) and Streetcar Scene (1945) speak to his concerns about the war in Europe and his experience as a young artist in Boston. A final section examines Wilson’s travel abroad and studies in Paris (1948–1949).

The second gallery features works Wilson made during his time in Mexico (1950–1956), which demonstrate his admiration for Mexican muralists like José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Diego Rivera. During his stay, Wilson painted his own mural—now destroyed— titled The Incident (1952). The mural was an unflinching look at the physical and psychological brutality of lynching in the U.S., portraying the racial terror of white-hooded Ku Klux Klan members a Black family sees through the window of their home. Four works directly related to The Incident are included in the exhibition.

Themes of friendship, family, and mentorship are explored in the third gallery, offering special insight into Wilson’s identity as a parent. The gallery also honors the influence of Wilson's father, whose love of reading and education deeply shaped the artist's life. This connection is the focus of the sculpture Father and Child Reading (1985) and a series of related drawings. A book nook features a selection of texts that evoke Wilson’s spirit—uplifting children’s books in the vein of those he illustrated, literature that inspired him, and works that contextualize the times in which he worked. The books in this space were selected in partnership with the Boston Public Library and provided by Frugal Bookstore, located in Roxbury’s Nubian Square.

The centerpiece of the MFA’s presentation of the exhibition is a reduced-scale bronze maquette for Eternal Presence, the monumental sculpture installed in 1987 on the grounds of the National Center of Afro-American Artists (NCAAA) in Roxbury. Fondly called the “Big Head” by many locals, the colossal sculpture was described by Wilson as “an image of universal dignity.” The final section also includes the maquette for Wilson’s bronze bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1985), a commission for the United States Capitol building in Washington D.C., which became the first representation of an African American displayed in the Capitol Rotunda and the first congressional sculptural commission awarded to a Black artist. Lastly, the gallery features four life-sized studies for one of Wilson’s most ambitious works, The Young Americans (1972–75), a series of colorful portraits of his children and their friends. Depicting a multiracial group of teenagers, these studies reflect Wilson’s sense of optimism for a new generation.

John Wilson grew up in Roxbury, a working-class neighborhood in Boston with a large Black population. The artist was the second of five children born to immigrants from British Guiana (now Guyana) who struggled with steady employment due to racist hiring practices after the Great Depression. While his mother was employed as a domestic worker, Wilson’s father focused on raising the children, prioritizing their education, which, for Wilson, included art classes in an after-school program at the Roxbury Boys’ Club. Wilson’s talent as a young artist earned him a scholarship to the SMFA in 1939.

Following his graduation from the Museum School in 1944, Wilson continued his studies through travel abroad to Paris (1947–1949) and Mexico (1950–1956). In Paris, Wilson studied with renowned French painter Fernand Léger and explored the collections of African art at the Musée de l’Homme; in Mexico, he drew inspiration from the Mexican Muralists and made lithographs at the socially engaged Taller de Gráfica Popular (People’s Graphic Workshop). Although he found his time abroad a respite from the systemic racism he experienced in the U.S., according to Wilson, “I wanted my work to express the experience of an African American in the States. I couldn’t do it long distance.”

Wilson and his family moved back to the States in 1956. After a brief period in Chicago and New York, he returned to Boston in 1964 to accept a position at Boston University, where he taught drawing for 20 years. Much of his activism was in support of initiatives for Black artists in Boston. Wilson was deeply engaged with the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts in Roxbury and the National Center of Afro-American Artists (NCAAA). In 1966, he helped to establish the Boston Negro Artists’ Association, which served as a resource for connectivity, supporting artists, exhibitions, and research. As an artist and teacher, Wilson’s generosity as a mentor and dedication to producing positive change inspired generations of art students in Boston.