Woodman Family Foundation News

The Foundation

Betty

Francesca

George

Video interviews from the Woodman Family Foundation archives included in the exhibition video for “Betty Woodman and George Woodman,” Charleston, East Sussex, UK, March 25–September 10, 2023. Exhibition video Charleston Trust. All video interviews Woodman Family Foundation Archives. All artworks © Woodman Family Foundation / DACS, London.

Still from exhibition video for “Betty Woodman and George Woodman,” Charleston, East Sussex, UK, March 25–September 10, 2023. Exhibition video Charleston Trust. All video interviews Woodman Family Foundation Archives. All artworks © Woodman Family Foundation / DACS, London.

CLOSING SEPTEMBER 10: "Betty Woodman and George Woodman," Charleston, East Sussex, UK, March 25-September 10, 2023

Last chance to see this unique exhibition, the first two-person presentation of Betty Woodman’s and George Woodman’s work in the UK. Focused on the couple's prolific time at their farmhouse in Antella, Italy—where they lived and worked for part of each year for nearly fifty years—the exhibition explores the artists’ mutual influences and their shared life immersed in art, culture, travel and experimentation, reflected in kindred palettes and patterns. Catch a glimpse of their Italian studios and home and hear them speak about the importance of Italy to their work in this exhibition video, assembled from interviews in the Woodman Family Foundation archives.

Installation view: “Betty Woodman and George Woodman," Charleston, East Sussex, UK, 2023.

Video vignettes from Charleston for “Betty Woodman and George Woodman,” Charleston, East Sussex, UK, March 25-September 10, 2023

Video vignettes by Charleston that highlight artworks by Betty Woodman and George Woodman included in the exhibition Betty Woodman and George Woodman. On view through September 10, 2023.

Exhibition video for "Betty Woodman and George Woodman," Charleston, East Sussex, UK, March 25-September 10, 2023

Catch a glimpse of Betty and George Woodman's Italian studios and home and hear them speak about the importance of Italy to their work in this exhibition video, assembled from interviews in the Woodman Family Foundation archives.

L to R: Pair: George Woodman. “Piazza San Francesco di Paola,” 1965. 32 x 32 in. Oil paint on canvas. Photo: John Berens / Betty Woodman. “Aztec Vase and Carpet: April,” 2016. 38 1/2 x 58 x 43 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, paint, and canvas. Photo: Jeff Elstone / Installation view: George Woodman. “Piazza San Francesco di Paola,” 1965 / Betty Woodman. “Aztec Vase and Carpet: April,” 2016 / Betty Woodman. “Wallpaper 19,” 2017 / Pair: Betty Woodman. “Wallpaper 19,” 2017. 65 x 59 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, and acrylic paint / George Woodman. Paper Tile Installation, 1982. Dimensions variable / Installation view: Betty Woodman. “Aztec Vase and Carpet: April,” 2016 / Betty Woodman. “Wallpaper 19,” 2017 / George Woodman. Paper Tile Installation, 1982 / Betty Woodman. “My House,” 2014. 80 x 84 x 10 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, acrylic paint, canvas, and wood / George Woodman. “Pitti, Medea, Roses,” c. 1988. 41 1/4 x 72 in. Gelatin silver print / Betty Woodman. “Santa Barbara,” 2005. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, paint, and canvas / George Woodman. “Cosmati,” 1966. 60 x 60 in. Oil paint on canvas / Installation view: George Woodman, "The Rochester Carpet," 1984, Bevier Gallery, RIT, Rochester, New York. Woodman Family Foundation Archives / Betty Woodman. “Aztec Vase and Carpet #3,” 2012. 35 x 85 x 43 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, acrylic paint, and canvas. All Charleston installation views: "Betty Woodman and George Woodman" at Charleston 2023. © The Charleston Trust; photograph: James Bellorini.

Pair: George Woodman. “Piazza San Francesco di Paola,” 1965. 32 x 32 in. Oil paint on canvas. Photo: John Berens / Betty Woodman. “Aztec Vase and Carpet: April,” 2016. 38 1/2 x 58 x 43 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, paint, and canvas. Photo: Jeff Elstone.

Frescos, patterns, and mosaics: "Betty Woodman and George Woodman," Charleston, East Sussex, UK, March 25-September 10, 2023

Fragmented frescos glimpsed in Italian churches and Roman ruins, geometry noticed in Cosmati floor mosaics, and patterns seen on tile walls in Spain, Turkey, Morocco, Mexico and Portugal provided decades-worth of ideas for both artists, realized on the floor and on the wall.

Francesca Woodman. "Space²," Providence, Rhode Island, 1976. 5 3/8 x 5 1/4 in. Gelatin silver print. Collection of RISD Museum, Providence, Rhode Island.

NOW OPEN Francesca Woodman in “The Performative Self-Portrait” at RISD Museum, Providence, Rhode Island, May 13-November 12, 2023

From capturing themselves in shadows and reflections to trying on alternative or speculative identities, "The Performative Self-Portrait” explores the body as material and medium and photography as vehicle to consider ways artists use self-portraiture to enact the self, question history, and articulate identity. Made between 1930 and the present, works in the exhibition range from new acquisitions to older works on view for the first time.

L to R: Installation view: Betty Woodman and George Woodman at Charleston 2023. © The Charleston Trust; photograph: James Bellorini / Betty Woodman. "His and Hers Vases: Looking Back," 2006. 29 1⁄2 x 45 x 13 1⁄2 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, and paint. Photo: Jeff Elstone / George Woodman. "Blue Arm and Chinese Maiden," 2012. 24 x 19 1⁄2 in. Oil paint on gelatin silver print. Photo: Eliza Little / Pair: Betty Woodman. “His/Her Vase, Gauguin’s Nude,” 2005. 29 x 58 x 11 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, and paint / George Woodman. “Classical De Stijl,” 2007. 16 x 20 in. Oil paint on gelatin silver print. Photo: Eliza Little / George Woodman. “Untitled,” 1987. 20 x 16 in. Gelatin silver print. Photo: Eliza Little / Betty Woodman. “Venus #12,” 2016. 34 1/4 x 16 x 5 1/2 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, paint, and cement / George Woodman. “Euridice and Amor,” 1982. 63 x 51 in. Acrylic paint on canvas / Betty Woodman. “Green Nude,” 2007. 33 x 33 3/4 x 6 3/4 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, and paint / George Woodman. “Untitled,” c. 1992. 41 1/4 x 33 1/2 in. Gelatin silver print.

Installation view: “Betty Woodman and George Woodman” at Charleston 2023. © The Charleston Trust; photograph: James Bellorini.

Art historical influence: "Betty Woodman and George Woodman," Charleston, East Sussex, UK, March 25-September 10, 2023

‍The exhibition at Charleston explores ways that Betty Woodman’s and George Woodman’s shared life and experiences over more than six decades found expression in the works that emerged from each artists’ studio. Art history significantly influenced them both, as can be seen in many of the works on view at Charleston as well as numerous other works in the Foundation’s collection, as shown here.

L to R: All artworks by Betty Woodman. Images 1-3: “Floating Beauty,” 1999. 27 x 56 x 10 1/4 in / Images 4-6: “After the Bath,” 2011. 35 x 37 1/2 x 8 in / Images 7-9: “Egyptian Diptych,” 1995. 28 x 52 x 8 in. All artworks glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, and paint. All images Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery. Photography: Phoebe d’Heurle.

Betty Woodman. “Floating Beauty,” 1999. 27 x 56 x 10 1/4 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, and paint.

OPENING Friday May 12: "Betty Woodman: Diptychs," David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, May 12-June 16, 2023

“Betty Woodman: Diptychs” focuses on two-part ceramic sculptures made by the artist between 1990 and 2013. The exhibition charts the evolution of Woodman's ideas about positive and negative space and sculpture and painting through these carefully composed works.

L to R: Betty surveys pots fresh from the kiln in front of one of George’s tessellation paintings in the Woodmans’ living room in Antella, c. 1970s / Pair: George Woodman. “Untitled,” c. 1970. 52 x 52 in. Acrylic paint on canvas. Photo: John Berens / Betty Woodman. “The Kitchen Table,” 2014. 63 x 60 x 12 1/2 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, acrylic paint, canvas, and wood. Private collection / One of George’s paintings in the Woodman’s bedroom, c. 1970s / The Woodmans' farmhouse in Antella, c. 1990s. Betty's studio was located in what had been the house's wine cellar. An outdoor structure was added to give her more space to work / Betty installing a Balustrade Relief Vase in the workspace just outside of her wine cellar studio, 1996 / George on the threshold of his former studio, when it had been located next to the outdoor dining area, c. 1980s / The Woodmans continued to expand the wine cellar studio. In 2008, they renovated and expanded the space significantly, transforming it into new studio for George / George decorates the exterior wall of his new studio with his version of “sgraffito,” a technique of scratching into plaster walls, popularized in 15th and 16th Century Italy and significant in the Italian Renaissance, Antella, Italy, 2008 / George and Betty in George’s wine cellar studio, 2009 / Works in progress in Betty’s most recent Antella studio, which was built into the hillside below the house and above the olive groves, 2004. All archival images Woodman Family Foundation Archives.

Betty surveys pots fresh from the kiln in front of one of George’s tessellation paintings in the Woodmans’ living room in Antella, c. 1970s. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.

NOW ON VIEW: "Betty Woodman and George Woodman," Charleston, East Sussex, UK, March 25-September 10, 2023

This exhibition at Charleston—the home and studio of artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant—centers on Betty and George Woodman’s prolific time in Antella, Italy, where they lived and worked together for part each year for nearly 50 years. In addition to presenting a range of artworks exploring the couple’s mutual influences and their ongoing dialogue in a variety of media, the exhibition includes archival photographs documenting their home, life and work in Antella.

L to R: Betty Woodman. "His and Hers Vases: Looking Back," 2006. 29 ½ x 45 x 13 ½ in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, and paint / George Woodman. "Blue Arm and Chinese Maiden," 2012. 24 x 19 ½ in. Oil paint on gelatin silver print.

"Betty Woodman and George Woodman" featured in "STIR," March 26, 2023

Read Rahul Kumar's interview with Charleston curator Emily Hill in "STIR" about the exhibition "Betty Woodman and George Woodman" on view now through September 10, 2023 at Charleston, East Sussex, UK.

Betty Woodman. "Night Window," 2016. 69 1/4 x 79 3/4 x 10 1/2 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, acrylic paint, canvas, and wood. Photo: Bruno Bruchi / George Woodman. "Canova Museum," 2010. 42 x 36 in. Oil paint on gelatin silver print. Photo: Eliza Little.

OPENING SATURDAY "Betty Woodman and George Woodman," Charleston, East Sussex, UK, March 25-September 10, 2023

Representing a decades-long dialogue in ceramics and paint, “Betty Woodman and George Woodman” brings together the artists’ vibrant ceramics, vivid abstract paintings, radical assemblages, and photographs, illuminated by archival materials. Focused on the couple’s prolific time at their farmhouse in Antella, Italy—where they lived and worked for part of each year for nearly fifty years—the exhibition explores the artists’ mutual influences and their shared life immersed in art, culture, travel and experimentation, reflected in kindred palettes and patterns.

L to R: Julia Margaret Cameron. Detail of "Sadness (Ellen Terry)," 1864. Albumen silver print. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 84.XZ.186.52 / Francesca Woodman. "Polka Dots #5," Providence, Rhode Island, 1976. Gelatin silver print.

JUST ANNOUCED: OPENING MARCH 2024 "Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits to Dream In” at National Portrait Gallery, London, UK, March 21-June 30, 2024

Photographers Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron are two of the most influential women in the history of photography. They lived a century apart – Cameron working in the UK and Sri Lanka from the 1860s, and Woodman in America and Italy from the 1970s. Both women explored portraiture beyond its ability to record appearance – using their own creativity and imagination to suggest notions of beauty, symbolism, transformation and storytelling.

L to R: Betty Woodman and George Woodman at Betty’s kiln, Antella, Italy, c. 1973. Woodman Family Foundation Archives / Betty Woodman. “Aztec Vase and Carpet: April,” 2016. 38 ½ x 58 x 43 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, paint, and canvas / George Woodman. “Piazza San Francesco di Paola,” 1965. 32 x 32 in. Oil paint on canvas.

Betty Woodman and George Woodman at Betty’s kiln, Antella, Italy, c. 1973. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.

UPCOMING EXHIBITION "Betty Woodman and George Woodman," Charleston, Lewes, East Sussex, UK, March 25-September 10, 2023

“Betty Woodman and George Woodman” is the first UK exhibition to show both artists' work together, celebrating the work of ground-breaking American ceramic artist Betty Woodman and the painter and photographer George Woodman.