Dr. David C. Driskell

David C. Driskell (b. 1931, Eatonton, GA, d. 2020, Hyattsville, MD) was a legendary African American artist and art historian. As an artist, scholar, and curator, he made substantial contributions to these fields that have changed the way we think about American art. His paintings and collages unite a strong modernist impulse with his personal vision and memory. Driskell transformed iconic African art forms into personal visions with his distinctive style and vibrant colors, facilitating profound explorations of nature, abstraction, and the Black Christian church. He skillfully blended these elements with Modernist aesthetics and the traditions of Western art The subject matter of Driskell's paintings, collages, and prints defies easy categorization. They reflect his Southern upbringing, evoke traditional rituals and art forms, and depict his summer home in Maine. His work incorporates elements from Modernist aesthetics and Western art traditions, influenced by his education and travels in Europe, Africa, and South America. Ancient Alphabets showcases Driskell’s constant color scheme, despite his dynamic style and range of practices. Driskell transformed iconic African art forms into honorific personal visions – flattened, decorated, and resurfaced in his signature style, color, and calligraphy - and melded these forms with Modernist aesthetics and the tradition of Western art.

 

In addition to being a practicing artist, Driskell’s scholarship underpins the current field of African American art history. Among his most influential curatorial contributions is the exhibition and catalogue for the groundbreaking Two Centuries of Black American Art, which opened in 1976 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and traveled to museums across the country. In 1977, after having taught at Talladega College, Howard University, and Fisk University, Driskell joined the Department of Art at the University of Maryland where he remained until his retirement in 1998. The University of Maryland opened The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora in 2001 to celebrate his revolutionary legacy.

 

Driskell received his BA in Fine Art from Howard University (1955) and MFA from Catholic University (1962), both in Washington, D.C. He attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Madison, Maine, in 1953, with which he has retained a lifelong relationship, serving as visiting faculty, lecturer, and board member. In 1993, Driskell was honored with an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In December 2000, Driskell received the National Humanities Medal. In 2005, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta established the David C. Driskell Prize, the first national award to honor and celebrate contributions to the field of African American art by a scholar or artist. Driskell’s works have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States, most recently as the subject of the career survey David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History (2021 - 2022) at the High Museum of Art, GA, which traveled to the Portland Museum of Art, ME, the Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., and the Cincinnati Art Museum, OH. Other solo exhibitions include David Driskell: Renewal and Reform (2017) at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, ME, and Creative Spirit: The Art of David C. Driskell (2011) at the David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. His works can be found in collections throughout the country, including the Baltimore Museum of Art, MD; Birmingham Museum of Art, AL; Bowdoin College Museum, ME; Colby College Museum, ME; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, AR; High Museum of Art, GA; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, PA; Portland Museum of Art, ME; The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY; and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, VA, among several others.