# David Clyde Driskell artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/david-clyde-driskell/
Profile generated: 2026-08-24T18:23:02.022Z
Quality: medium confidence, adequate sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1931-06-07
- Death date: 2020-04-01
- Nationality: American
- Common media: Painting

## Portrait

![David Clyde Driskell](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/David_C._Driskell.jpg)
Billlayton · CC BY-SA 4.0
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:David_C._Driskell.jpg

## About David Clyde Driskell

David Clyde Driskell (1931–2020) was an American artist, scholar, curator, art historian, and educator whose career helped place African American art within sustained academic and museum study. Authority records identify him as a painter as well as a scholar and curator, while biographical sources emphasize his role in shaping African American art as a distinct field of inquiry. His significance therefore extends beyond his studio practice: collectors encounter Driskell as both a maker and an influential interpreter of Black art history. One collected biography associates him with the Black Arts Movement, although the available institution-grade sources do not provide a formal movement classification. His connection to the University of Maryland and the center bearing his name also reflect his standing as an educator and field-builder. Accurate identity matching matters because public records may use David Driskell, David C. Driskell, or the full name David Clyde Driskell.

## Common works and media

Painting is the only studio medium clearly documented in the collected sources. The pack does not contain enough institution-grade evidence to characterize recurring subjects, named series, print editions, sculpture, ceramics, or other work types. Auction and appraisal records should therefore classify each object from its physical evidence and documentation instead of assuming a broader category from the artist's name alone.

## Market and appraisal context

The collected sources confirm Driskell's identity as a painter but do not provide enough lot-level evidence for price predictions or market-trend claims. An appraisal should first establish that the object is correctly attributed to David Clyde Driskell, using authority records to distinguish the artist from similarly named people. Available public auction records can then be assessed by matching the work type and medium as closely as the documentation permits. Sale dates, realized prices, dimensions, condition, provenance, and other object-specific evidence should be examined in the underlying records rather than inferred from the artist's general biography. This source pack does not identify a supported auction record, recurring price range, or scarcity pattern.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research with available auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots. Coverage varies, and object-level appraisal conclusions require review of the underlying evidence.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5232007
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500077890
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/91349356/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n83183149
- National Gallery of Art: https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.26553.html
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Driskell
- Wikipedia: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_C._Driskell
- Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/artist/david-clyde-driskell/