Challenging both prejudices and omissions, John Wilson’s work is about refusing invisibility, a counterpoint to the historical absence of the Black figurative image. This striking drawing is a profile study of Roz Springer, a frequent model for the artist. Wilson compared the young woman to “living sculpture” and drew inspiration from her features for his signature work, Eternal Presence, a monumental sculpture on the grounds of the National Center of Afro-American Artists in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood. The MFA acquired a reduced-scale version of that sculpture in 2022.

Black-and-white pastel and charcoal on paper.

Virginia Herrick Deknatel Purchase Fund and Lee M. Friedman Fund. © Estate of John Wilson.

2022.1893