John Wilson committed his life and work to exploring African American experiences. He began Eternal Presence in 1982, when he was commissioned to create a major work for the grounds of the National Center for Afro-American Art, down the street from the MFA in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood. Wilson, who studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, conceived of Eternal Presence with the MFA in mind. “It was my answer to all the omissions, the things I did not see at the Boston MFA,” he said. “I wanted to make a Black image that you could not ignore.”

Bronze.

William Francis Warden Fund. © Estate of John Wilson.

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