Paintings by Hyattsville’s David Driskell on Display at D.C. Museum

Image of "Woman With Flowers" by David Driskell courtesy of the Phillips Collection

The late Hyattsville artist and educator David Driskell is the subject of a new exhibition at the Phillips Collection in Dupont Circle.

Driskell, who died last year of Covid-19 and is the namesake of Driskell Park, is best known for his work promoting African-American art, including a landmark exhibit in 1976, but he also made paintings, drawings, collages and prints in a variety of styles.

One of his early works in the exhibition is the 1956 painting “Behold Thy Son,” a modern version of a Pietà — a classical artwork depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the body of Jesus after the crucifixion — inspired by the open casket at the funeral of Emmett Till.

Curator and art historian Adrienne Childs told PBS NewsHour that the museum felt it was “about time” to focus on his work.

“I think that his work was overlooked because his energy was not funneled into getting his work on the wall. It was funneled into getting others noticed,” she said.

Childs said it was also appropriate since the Phillips Collection was one of the few museums open to Driskell when he was a student at Howard University in the 1950s, when D.C. was still segregated.

“David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History” will be on display at the Phillips Collection at 1600 21st St. NW through Jan. 9, when it moves to the Cincinnati Art Museum.

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