H x W (frame): 33 1/4 × 38 × 1 3/8 in. (84.5 × 96.5 × 3.5 cm)
Type:
oil paintings
landscapes (representations)
Date:
ca. 1969
Caption:
"I think all art if it’s worth its salt has got to be universal. But it comes from a local source, you see.... It can be as local as all get-out, but it has to have this transcendental quality in order for it to be universal…. And this is the important thing."
Hale Woodruff is perhaps best known as a figurative and mural painter whose work both documented the social conditions and celebrated the achievements of African American life and history. However, he was also an active participant in the abstract expressionist movement in New York during the 1960s. Throughout his career, Woodruff worked in various styles— figurative, social realism, and abstraction—often combining these approaches, as evidenced in this painting.
Description:
This large rectangular oil painting on canvas depicts an abstract field of green, orange, yellow, and white colors in patches. Handwritten in the bottom right corner is the artist's signature that reads "Hale Woodruff." The reverse side of the canvas has illegible angular symbols, done in black oil. Handwritten above symbols is the signature "H. WOODRUFF."