June 25, 1977: Professor David C. Driskell is serving as guest curator of “Two Centuries of Black American Art”, which will be held at The Brooklyn Museum from June 25 to September 5, 1977.
Driskell is Professor of Art at the University of Maryland, College Park. From 1966 - 1976, he was Chairman of the Department of Art, at Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee. He was invited to be curator of this exhibition by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where it first opened. Subsequently it traveled to Atlanta and Dallas, and Brooklyn is its final stop.
“Two Centuries of Black American Art”, the first major historical survey of the black contribution to American art history, includes more than 200 works by black artists, ranging from anonymous slaves to known artists of the mid-twentieth century. This exhibition has been made possible by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Philip Morris Incorporated.
Mr. Driskell is well-known in the United States, Africa and Europe, as a scholar and artist. His vast knowledge of the cultures and styles of the black man on several continents, as well as his extensive involvement with and knowledge of Afro-American art, make him particularly well-suited to organize this important exhibition.
Mr. Driskell was born in Eatonton, Georgia, in 1931. He received his AB in Fine Arts from Howard University in 1955, and his MFA from Catholic University of America in 1962. Mr. Driskell has taught at Talledega College, Howard University, Bowdoin College, and the University of Ife in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1971 - 1988. 1977, 012.
