Coming Home (also titled Going Home; View of Atlanta), from the portfolio Selections from the Atlanta Period, 1931-1946
Hale Woodruff, American, 1900 - 1980
1935; printed 1996 (posthumously)
Linocut on wove Lana Royal Crown paper
36/300 (Estate edition, 1996)
Image: 9 15/16 × 7 15/16 in. (25.3 × 20.2 cm)
Sheet: 19 1/8 × 14 15/16 in. (48.6 × 38 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Class of 1935 Memorial Fund
2015.11.7
Printer
Robert Blackburn Workshop, New York (Rober Blackburn, American, 1920-2003)
Publisher
Elnora, Inc., Estate of Hall Woodruff
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
20th century
Object Name
Research Area
Not on view
Inscriptions
Signed, lower right, in blind stamp: © Hale Woodruff; blind-stamped, lower left: [symbol for printer, Robert Blackburn]; numbered, in graphite, lower left: 36/300
Label
In his portfolio Selections from the Atlanta Period 1931–1946, which is representative of his entire body of work, Hale Woodruff depicts life as an African American in Atlanta, Georgia. He chose pleasant subjects such as a group walking to church, as well as devastating subjects such as lynching. That wide variety of experiences simulates the turmoil of being Black in the South. This everyday scene of a man arriving home gives us a glimpse into urban housing in Atlanta, which serves as a backdrop for the many subjects of this series of prints. Perhaps the haphazard composition of the housing is meant to indicate the unstable existence Woodruff felt in Atlanta, with the constant highs and lows he dealt with in this series translating into his use of line.
Woodruff was heavily influential in the Atlanta art community. As a professor of art, he taught not only college students but also elementary school students, raising a new generation of primarily Black and ultimately successful artists in the city.
From the 2022 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 104, Southern Gothic, curated by Abigail Smith '23, Conroy Intern
Course History
AAAS 7.05, Imagining Black Freedom in America since the Civil War, Julie Rabig, Spring 2020
Exhibition History
A Space for Dialogue 104, Southern Gothic, Abigail Smith, Class of 2023, Conroy Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 8–February 27, 2022.
Provenance
Charles M. Young Fine Prints and Drawings, Portland, Connecticut; sold to present collection, 2015.
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