Boston artist John Wilson was born in Roxbury in 1922. He enrolled at the Museum School in 1939, and continued his studies in Paris from 1947–49. The following year he went to Mexico, where he spent six years making prints with the Taller de Gráfica Popular, an experience that solidified his life-long commitment to addressing social justice in his art. He taught at Boston University from 1965–86. The twenty-four-year-old Wilson made this confident self-portrait shortly before he moved to Paris. To the right, a window frames a narrow view of sky and city rooftops. A drawing of a woman and child is pinned to the wall at the left.

---