Selwyn Wilson studied under John Weeks and Archibald Fisher, who taught him technical skills and encouraged him to experiment with colour, texture and form in the style of Post-Impressionist painters such as Paul Cézanne. Auckland Art Gallery purchased Figure Study and a 1948 portrait by Wilson while he was still a student at Elam School of Fine Arts. The purchase of student work by the Gallery was unprecedented. As a nude self-portrait set in a studio at night, Figure Study has an admirable honesty.
Wilson came from a generation of artists, teachers and mentors who were generous with advice and unconcerned by attaining a place in the ‘canon’. His readiness as a teacher sprang less from any desire for recognition than from his empathy for promising students. His mettle as a teacher is apparent in his statement: ‘One doesn’t teach art to make artists and teachers. What I always aimed to give all students was an awareness of the place where they live . . . with an eye for the design of all functional things around us.’