Harvard Art Museums > M25199: Martin Luther King Prints Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Martin Luther King (John Wilson) , M25199,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Dec 24, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/146609. This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number M25199 People John Wilson, American (Roxbury, Massachusetts 1922 - 2015 Brookline, Massachusetts) Title Martin Luther King Classification Prints Work Type print Date 2002 Culture American Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/146609 Physical Descriptions Medium Softground etching, etching, and burnishing on chine collé on white wove paper Technique Etching Dimensions sheet: 90.2 x 75.7 cm (35 1/2 x 29 13/16 in.) Inscriptions and Marks Signed: Wilson inscription: yes, lower margin, graphite, hand written, signed, in artist's hand: edition numbering, signature, date: 6/50 Wilson 02 blind stamp: lower left corner, paper, compression: printer's blindstamp (James Stroud/Center Street Studio): [scallop shell] Provenance Recorded Ownership History [Center Street Studio, Cambridge, Massachusetts], sold; to Harvard University Art Museums, May 28, 2002. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Margaret Fisher Fund Copyright © Estate of John Wilson Accession Year 2002 Object Number M25199 Division Modern and Contemporary Art Contact am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Commentary In this print Wilson asserts his identity, or at least his personal identification with the most important and influential black man of the 20th century, Martin Luther King. The presentation of the subject is direct but not confrontational. King is simply there, a man and, by the narrowness and slight slumping of his shoulders, not even a heroic man. One is reminded of police mug shots and of busts of the Man of Sorrows, and neither association is inappropriate, though the subject in no way appears victimized. Rather, he endures. Through the medium of worked and reworked softground etching, his attribute of blackness becomes a tangible reality. Exhibition History 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/02/2023 - 12/30/2023 Critical Printing, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/31/2019 - 01/05/2020 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu