Ancestral Memory

mid 20th century

Hale Woodruff American, 1900-1980

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

Title Ancestral Memory

Artwork Date mid 20th century

Artist Hale Woodruff

Life Dates 1900-1980

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 60 1/8 × 52 1/8 inches (152.7 × 132.4 cm) Framed: 62 1/2 × 54 7/16 × 2 1/4 inches (158.8 × 138.3 × 5.7 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department African American Art

Credit Founders Society Purchase, African Art Gallery Committee Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 78.87

Copyright Courtesy of the Estate of Hale Woodruff/Elnora, Inc.; and courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

Markings

Signed Signed, lower left: H. Woodruff

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

1978-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

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Published References

Taylor, William E., and Warkel, Harriet G. A Shared Heritage: Art by Four African Americans. Indianapolis, 1996, pp. 88-90 (ill.).

Bulletin of the DIA 56, no. 5 (1978): 323, no. 37 (ill.).

Afro-American Images 1971: The Vision of Percy Ricks. Exh. cat., Delaware Art Museum. Wilmington, 2021, p. 6 pl. 1 (ill.).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Courtesy of the Estate of Hale Woodruff/Elnora, Inc.; and courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

Hale Woodruff, Ancestral Memory, mid 20th century, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, African Art Gallery Committee Fund, 78.87.