Richard Wilson is an internationally acclaimed award-winning fine artist. Born in Robersonville, NC, his talent developed at an early age. By age 8, he was skillfully crafting images of trucks, action figures and cartoon characters for his classmates. Under the mentorship and influence of his father, he continued to develop his artistic skills. Upon completion of high school, Wilson attended Barton College. He later received a degree in Advertising + Graphic Design from Pitt Community College, where he later served as an art instructor in the same art department in which his own dream was cultivated. Wilson currently resides and works from his personal studio in Greenville, NC.
He has produced an impressive 30-year career as a productive professional artist, freelance + corporate graphic designer, and college art teacher. Given his masterful execution and the universality of his subject matter, Richard’s work is both acclaimed by professional artists and has strong popular appeal. His narrative paintings frequently feature his own family, in particular his daughters. Wilson’s artistic strength is his capacity to select those moments that transcend the personal and can reach a broader audience. Some paintings are nostalgic, some express human connections that are only found within the family, and some express the challenge; in all his paintings there is warmth and discretion. Wilson does many commissioned portraits as well, and in 2018 was commissioned by the University of Georgia to paint the portrait of Mary Frances Early, the first African American to graduate from the University. Recently the University commissioned him to paint six more portraits.
Wilson has works in numerous public and private art collections. Some of his notable collectors are the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Hank Aaron, Tina Knowles, Gladys Knight, Tom Joyner, Ed Gordon, Matt Kemp, Nicholas Castellanos, Cam Johnson, Judge James Andrew Wynn and many more. Earlier this year his pastel painting Under the Southern Blue Sky was acquired by the Greenville Museum of Arts and the NC Museum of Art is now featuring his Southern Girl & Landscape series in their gift shop.
Wilson made history in North Carolina by becoming the first African American artist to have a portrait painting publicly displayed in a North Carolina courthouse. His painting of George Henry White, the last former slave to serve in Congress, proudly hangs in the Edgecombe County Superior Courthouse in Tarboro, NC.
He has been publicized in many publications, including recognition as one of today’s masters by Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine. He was featured in the Wall Street Journal and recognized by writer Daniel Grant as “one of the most successful artists that you’re likely to meet.” Wilson was also featured in Our State magazine twice in 2020, and the Pastel Journal in 2019 after winning the top prize in the Pastel 100 International Art Competition. Blue Moon Brewing Company selected Wilson as one of the 20 Up and Coming Artists in the US to design a Limited-Edition label for their 20th Anniversary Blue Moon Artist Series bottles. His work has been featured in movies and tv series including NBC’s This Is Us, the movie Barbershop: The Next Cut, Netflix’s Raising Deon Season 2, The Trap, and Starz’s BMF.
To view his art and full bio, visit his website.
