Join James Manigault-Bryant, Professor of Africana Studies at Williams College, for a closer look at The Richard Wright Suite, a portfolio of six etchings with aquatint illustrating the story "Down by the Riverside" from Richard Wright's 1938 novella, Uncle Tom's Children. This evocative portfolio of prints from The Met's collection is featured in the exhibition Witnessing Humanity: The Art of John Wilson, on view at The Met through February 8, 2026.
For over six decades, the American artist John Wilson (1922–2015) made powerful and poetic works that captured his life as a Black American artist and his ongoing quest for racial, social, and economic justice. Wilson's art reflected on and responded to the turbulent times in which he lived. His subjects included racial violence, labor, the writings of Richard Wright, the Civil Rights Movement, street scenes, and intimate images of family life, with a particular focus on fatherhood.
Jointly organized by the Met and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and featuring over 100 works made over the course of his career, Witnessing Humanity: The Art of John Wilson is the largest exhibition of Wilson's work to date and his first solo museum exhibition in New York.
