TitleMonumental Head
Artist
John Wilson
(1922 - 2015)
Date2003
MediumColor etching and aquatint on paper
DimensionsSheet size: 42 1/2 x 35 in.
Plate size: 36 x 29 3/4 in.
Framed: 45 1/2 x 37 1/4 x 2 in.
SignedSigned lower right: "Wilson 03"
MarkingsWatermark on lower left: shell
SubmissionNA diploma presentation, September 22, 2004
Credit LineNational Academy of Design, New York, NY
Object number2004.30
Label TextSculptor and printmaker John Wilson studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and has long been associated with the art community of that city. Since the 1970s he has combined his interest in Pre-Columbian art with the Mexican Muralists and Eastern art to create a series of large heads. The artist uses African physiogomy in his work to refer to the origins of humanity on the African continent and as an alternative to the traditional ideal of beauty in Western art. Of his subject, Wilson stated "I don't think of [it] as a male or female head. I wanted to make a black image that you could not ignore, that would have an enigmatic presence."
