The late David Driskell is revered in artistic circles as a masterful curator, a distinguished scholar and a generous mentor. He’s best known for his comprehensive scholarship on the works of leading African-American artists of the 19th and 20th centuries, leading to his book, “Two Centuries of Black American Art.” As a distinguished artist himself, Driskell also brought his keen artistic eye to his personal collection.
Now pieces from that collection are part of “David C. Driskell: Collector,” the new exhibition at Maine’s Portland Museum of Art that juxtaposes his work with the work of fellow Black artists, including Lois Mailou Jones, Edward Mitchell Bannister and Romare Bearden.
What’s also on display is Driskell’s connection to Maine itself – a connection that started in the early 1950s, said Mark Bessire, director at the Portland Museum of Art.
“That’s the first time he crosses the Mason-Dixon line, comes all the way to Maine and meets some great artists in an artist community. And then on his way home, he goes through New York for the first time,” Bessire said of the artist, who was born in Eatonton, Ga. “A lot of what happened for David in that experience informed him as an artist and, particularly, about an artist’s community and how supportive artists can be.”
Bessire said Driskell and his wife Thelma would go on to buy a house in Falmouth, Maine, in the early 1960s, where his wife still seasonally resides today. Driskell became a board member at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, where he did his first artists residency in the ‘50s, and at Colby College. He also taught at Bates College and Bowdoin College, and his work has been on display in most Maine museums.
“His spirit and his impact in Maine is immense,” Bessire said.
But because of his commitment to scholarship and curation, his work was sometimes in the shadows, particularly early in his career. Adrienne L. Childs, an independent scholar, art historian, curator and mentee of David Driskell, said Driskell asked her in the 1990s to curate a small companion show of his own work to go along with a traveling exhibit of his collected work.
“That was a real pleasure for me,” Childs said. “And that was my first, I guess, big show that I curated. And it showed me that that was a turning point for him. From then on, I think we really started focusing on his work. And every time we did these exhibitions of this work, it was revelatory, because he already had a lot of people who knew him and were going to come to the openings … but they were all surprised at how prolific he had been.”
She said she hopes that museum-goers are able to see a more holistic picture of who David Driskell was, in all his facets, through this exhibition.
“I would like for people to understand that being an artist is a 360-degree lived experience and that through David’s generosity as a collector and an artist and mentor, we are able to see how multi-dimensional an artist’s life could be and how impactful it can be,” Childs said.
“David C. Driskell: Collector” is on display at the Portland Museum of Art in Maine until March 2026. Click here for more information.
Guests
- Mark Bessire, the Judy and Leonard Lauder Director of the Portland Museum of Art
- Adrienne L. Childs, independent scholar, art historian, curator and mentee of David Driskell
