Hale Woodruff (1900-1980) was an American painter, draftsman, printer, educator and muralist.
Born in Illinois, Woodruff moved with his mother to Nashville, Tennessee, at an early age, after the death of his father. He left for Europe in 1927 and settled in France. There he studied at the Académie Moderne and visited the famous African American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner, who encouraged his work. Woodruff became increasingly influenced by African art and the techniques of Cubism.
After his return to the United States in 1931, Woodruff turned away from the abstract approach he had adopted in France, focusing instead on social issues, including scenes of Southern poverty and depictions of lynchings. In 1934 he traveled to Mexico and studied under the noted Mexican muralist Diego Rivera.
As an educator, Woodruff did much to improve educational opportunities for black artists. From 1931 to 1946 he taught at Atlanta University, where he founded one of the first art departments in a Southern black university. In 1942 he established the Atlanta Annuals, exhibitions expressly for African American artists; they operated from 1942 to 1970. Woodruff taught at New York University from 1946 until his retirement in 1967, and he continued to make art through the 1970s.