The PMA Remembers David Driskell

April 2, 2020

Staff from the PMA share their memories of American artist and scholar, David Driskell (1931–2020)

Thoughts from PMA Director Mark Bessire

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Reflections on David Driskell's Life and Career


Reflections on David Driskell’s Life and Career


Jessica May, Deputy Director and Robert and Elizabeth Nanovic Chief Curator, has been working with the High Museum of Art on a Driskell retrospective David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History, opening at the PMA on June 19, 2021. She shares some thoughts, stories, and lessons from years of friendship with David.

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Highlights from the PMA collection, programs, and events 

David Driskell (United States, 1931-2020), Pine and Moon, 1971, oil on Masonite, 47 3/8 x 35 1/8 inches. Museum purchase with support from Friends of the Collection, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine, 2011.4. Image courtesy Peter Siegel. Courtesy of the artist and DC Moore Gallery, New York.
David Driskell (United States, 1931–2020), Pine and Moon, 1971, oil on Masonite, 47 3/8 x 35 1/8 inches. Museum purchase with support from Friends of the Collection, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine, 2011.4. Image courtesy Peter Siegel. Courtesy of the artist and DC Moore Gallery, New York.
David Driskell (United States, 1931-2020), Ghetto Wall #2 , 1970, oil, acrylic and collage on linen, 60 x 50 inches. Museum purchase with the support of the Friends of the Collection, including Anonymous (2), Charlton and Eleanor Ames, Eileen Gillespie and Timothy Fahey, Cyrus Hagge, Patricia Hille Dodd Hagge, Alison and Horace Hildreth, Douglas and Sharyn Howell, Harry W. Konkel, Judy and Leonard Lauder, Marian Hoyt Morgan and Christopher Hawley Corbett, Anne and Vince Oliviero, D. Suzi Osher, Christina F. Petra, Karen and Stuart Watson, Michael and Nina Zilkha. Courtesy of the artist and DC Moore Gallery, New York.
David Driskell (United States, 1931–2020), Ghetto Wall #2 , 1970, oil, acrylic and collage on linen, 60 x 50 inches. Museum purchase with the support of the Friends of the Collection, including Anonymous (2), Charlton and Eleanor Ames, Eileen Gillespie and Timothy Fahey, Cyrus Hagge, Patricia Hille Dodd Hagge, Alison and Horace Hildreth, Douglas and Sharyn Howell, Harry W. Konkel, Judy and Leonard Lauder, Marian Hoyt Morgan and Christopher Hawley Corbett, Anne and Vince Oliviero, D. Suzi Osher, Christina F. Petra, Karen and Stuart Watson, Michael and Nina Zilkha. Courtesy of the artist and DC Moore Gallery, New York.

An Evening with David Driskell

On August 22, 2019, David Driskell gave a talk at the PMA’s third annual Friends of the Collection benefit. Hear his inspiring lecture in full.

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