Uploaded February 2021 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
Art historian, curator, and artist David Driskell was born in Eatonton, Georgia, in 1931. A lifelong educator, Driskell honed his teaching repertoire at HBCUs between 1955 through 1977, teaching at Talladega College, Howard University, and Fisk University. The High Museum of Art’s relationship with Driskell began in 1977 when the Museum presented Driskell’s landmark exhibition, Two Centuries of Black American Art, the first traveling museum exhibition dedicated to works made exclusively by African American artists in the United States. Later in 2005, the High Museum established the David C. Driskell Prize as the first national award to honor and celebrate contributions to the field of African American art and art history.
In this video, Weiland Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Michael Rooks, discusses this prolific artist’s Self-Portrait as Beni. Driskell visited Benin City (formerly Edo, capital of the Kingdom of Benin) in 1970. Here he combines a modern self-portrait (on the right) with an ancient, ornamental Benin hip mask (on the left).
Visit the High Museum: high.org
Art historian, curator, and artist David Driskell was born in Eatonton, Georgia, in 1931. A lifelong educator, Driskell honed his teaching repertoire at HBCUs between 1955 through 1977, teaching at Talladega College, Howard University, and Fisk University. The High Museum of Art’s relationship with Driskell began in 1977 when the Museum presented Driskell’s landmark exhibition, Two Centuries of Black American Art, the first traveling museum exhibition dedicated to works made exclusively by African American artists in the United States. Later in 2005, the High Museum established the David C. Driskell Prize as the first national award to honor and celebrate contributions to the field of African American art and art history.
In this video, Weiland Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Michael Rooks, discusses this prolific artist’s Self-Portrait as Beni. Driskell visited Benin City (formerly Edo, capital of the Kingdom of Benin) in 1970. Here he combines a modern self-portrait (on the right) with an ancient, ornamental Benin hip mask (on the left).
Visit the High Museum: high.org
