# Hale Aspacio Woodruff artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/hale-aspacio-woodruff/
Profile generated: 2026-05-29T19:17:19.384Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1900-08-26
- Death date: 1980-09-05
- Nationality: American
- Movements: Harlem Renaissance
- Common media: oil painting, mural, printmaking, drawing

## About Hale Aspacio Woodruff

Hale Aspacio Woodruff (1900–1980) was an American painter, muralist, and printmaker recognized as a leading figure in twentieth-century African American art. Born in Cairo, Illinois, he studied in Paris at the Académie Moderne and the Académie Scandinave during the late 1920s before joining the faculty of Atlanta University, where he taught from 1931 to 1946 and founded the university's annual art exhibition for Black artists. Woodruff is best known for his large-scale murals addressing African American history and Southern life, as well as lithographs and paintings that moved between figurative narrative and abstraction. His later career centered in New York City, where he continued to paint and teach. His work is held by major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, and his murals remain landmarks of American public art.

## Common works and media

Collectors are likely to encounter Woodruff's lithographs and linocuts, many depicting scenes of African American rural life, figures, and abstract compositions. Oil paintings range from figurative canvases to later abstract works. Mural studies and preparatory drawings surface less often but represent some of his most significant output. Screenprints and exhibition posters also appear in the secondary market.

## Market and appraisal context

Hale Woodruff's work appears regularly at auction across American art, African American fine art, and Post-War print categories. With over 200 recorded lots, collectors most frequently encounter his lithographs, linocuts, and works on paper. Unique paintings and mural studies are comparatively rare. Key valuation factors include medium and scale, the period of creation, documented provenance, exhibition history, and condition. Works tied to his Atlanta University years or his Paris study period often attract heightened interest. Attribution should be verified, as his graphic style overlaps with contemporaries in African American modernist circles.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine structured identity research from museum, library authority, and biographical sources with public auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots. For Hale Aspacio Woodruff, this page draws on Getty ULAN, VIAF, the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, Wikidata, and the Museum of Modern Art, alongside Appraisily's auction database of 215 recorded lots.

## Sources

- RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/415691
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/64865871/
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500097842
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15489989
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hale_Woodruff
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/7630
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85176444