L to R: 1-2: Betty Woodman with Francesca Woodman and Charles Woodman, passport, 1959 / 3-4: George Woodman, passport, 1959 / 5-6: Betty Woodman with Charles Woodman and Francesca Woodman, passport, 1965 / 7-8: George Woodman, passport, 1965 / 9-10: Betty Woodman with Francesca Woodman, passport, 1970. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
Betty Woodman with Francesca Woodman and Charles Woodman, passport, 1959. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
The Woodmans' passports, 1959, 1965, and 1970: SUMMER TRAVELS WITH THE WOODMAN FAMILY
As everyone heads out on vacation this August, we’re taking a look back at the Woodman family’s travels throughout the years with images from our archives…Throwback to a time when kids had to be on their moms passport! The Woodman family loved to travel and visited Naples, Milan, Florence, Paris, Quebec, London, Granada, New York City, Croatia (then a part of Yugoslavia), Istanbul, and Copenhagen between 1959 to 1974.
Cover of "Francesca Woodman: The Artist's Books,” MACK, London, UK, 2023. © Woodman Family Foundation / DACS, London; MACK.
Cover of "Francesca Woodman: The Artist's Books,” MACK, London, UK, 2023. © Woodman Family Foundation / DACS, London; MACK.
Francesca Woodman: The Artist's Books with Collier Schorr, Justine Kurland, Moyra Davey, Drew Sawyer at Rizzoli Bookstore
Collier Schorr, Justine Kurland, and Moyra Davey are in conversation with Drew Sawyer to celebrate the launch of Francesca Woodman: The Artist's Books. This event was held at Rizzoli Bookstore on June 28, 2023, with an introduction by Lissa McClure of The Woodman Foundation.
L to R: Cover of "Francesca Woodman: The Artist's Books,” MACK, London, UK, 2023. © Woodman Family Foundation / DACS, London; MACK / Graphic Courtesy Rizzoli Bookstore.
Cover of "Francesca Woodman: The Artist's Books,” MACK, London, UK, 2023. © Woodman Family Foundation / DACS, London; MACK.
UPCOMING EVENT “Francesca Woodman: The Artist’s Books,” June 28 at 6:45-8:30pm, Rizzoli Bookstore, New York
‍Please join us for a conversation on Francesca Woodman with Collier Schorr, Justine Kurland, Moyra Davey and Drew Sawyer to celebrate the launch of "Francesca Woodman: The Artist’s Books.” The panelists will discuss the influence of Woodman’s work on their respective practices, and the ways in which an examination of these predominantly unseen artist’s books can shed a new light on her remarkable work.
Francesca Woodman. “These people live in that door,” Providence, Rhode Island, 1976-77. 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 in. Vintage gelatin silver print.
Francesca Woodman. “These people live in that door,” Providence, Rhode Island, 1976-77. 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 in. Vintage gelatin silver print.
Francesca Woodman featured in "The Art Newspaper," June 7, 2023
Big thanks to Jori Finkel for this lovely piece in the Art Newspaper! We’re thrilled to have her share more about the Foundation's plans and exciting things on the horizon for Francesca Woodman.
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: Francesca Woodman. “Small sketch for a piece about bridges and tiaras,” New York, January, 1980. 12 1/4 x 31 in. Vintage diazotype / Images 2-3: Details of “Small sketch for a piece about bridges and tiaras,” New York, January, 1980.
Francesca Woodman. “Small sketch for a piece about bridges and tiaras,” New York, January, 1980. 12 1/4 x 31 in. Vintage diazotype.
Francesca Woodman, "Small sketch for a piece about bridges and tiaras," January, 1980: STAFF PICKS
Over many years I’ve had the privilege of being first the curator of Francesca Woodman’s estate and now in my current role with the Woodman Family Foundation, I’ve had an equal number of “favorite” works by the artist. It’s a real challenge to choose just one! “Small sketch for a piece about bridges and tiaras” for me exemplifies the wit, keen observation, and inventiveness characteristic of Francesca Woodman’s photographs and points to her larger concerns as an artist.
L to R: Images 1-8: Stills from Francesca Woodman, "Selected Video Works," Providence, Rhode Island, 1976-78. Half-inch black-and-white open reel video with sound, transferred to DVD, 11:43 minutes / Pages from "Francesca Woodman." San Francisco: SFMOMA in association with DAP, New York, 2011.
Still from Francesca Woodman, "Selected Video Works," Providence, Rhode Island, 1976-78. Half-inch black-and-white open reel video with sound, transferred to DVD, 11:43 minutes.
Jennifer Blessing on Francesca Woodman's work in video: READING ROOM
READING ROOM highlights past essays, reviews and interviews about Betty Woodman, Francesca Woodman, and George Woodman that provided new insights and lenses through which to understand their work. In the catalogue that accompanied the exhibition Francesca Woodman, presented at SFMOMA, San Francisco in 2011 and the Guggenheim Museum, New York, in 2012, Guggenheim Senior Curator of Photography Jennifer Blessing writes about the primacy of process in Francesca Woodman’s work in video
L to R: Cover of "Francesca Woodman: The Artist's Books,” MACK, London, UK, 2023 / All artist’s books by Francesca Woodman. Covers and spreads from “Some Disordered Interior Geometries," 1980 / "Quaderno dei Dettati e dei Temi," 1978-1980 / “Quaderno," 1978 / "Untitled (Pilgrim Mills)," 1977-1978 / "Angels, Calendar, Notebook," 1977-1978 / "Portraits, Friends, Equations," 1977-1978 / "Untitled (Self-Deceit)," 1978 / "Portrait of a Reputation," 1976-1977. © Woodman Family Foundation / DACS, London.
Cover of "Francesca Woodman: The Artist's Books,” MACK, London, UK, 2023.
COMING JUNE 2023: "Francesca Woodman: The Artist's Books,” MACK, London, UK, 2023
"Francesca Woodman: The Artist’s Books" collects for the first time every page of all eight of Francesca Woodman’s unique artist’s books in one comprehensive volume, including two newly discovered books which have never before been seen alongside better-known titles such as "Some Disordered Interior Geometries."
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.
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.
Francesca Woodman. “Untitled,” Providence, Rhode Island, c. 1977. 5 5/16 x 5 1/4 in. Gelatin silver print.
Francesca Woodman. “Untitled,” Providence, Rhode Island, c. 1977. 5 5/16 x 5 1/4 in. Gelatin silver print.
NOW OPEN Francesca Woodman in “FEMME FATALE. Gaze—Power—Gender," Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany, December 9, 2022-April 10, 2023.
NOW OPEN Francesca Woodman in “FEMME FATALE. Gaze—Power—Gender” at Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany. On view through April 10, 2023. Curated by Dr. Markus Bertsch.
L to R: Charles Woodman, Venice, Italy, 1966 / Charles Woodman and Francesca Woodman, Venice, Italy, 1966 / Betty Woodman and Charles Woodman, Venice, Italy, 1966.
Charles Woodman, Venice, Italy, 1966.
The Woodmans in Venice, Italy, 1966: From the Archives...
As this year’s Venice Biennale, “The Milk of Dreams,” nears its end, we’re reminded that over many decades Betty and George Woodman traveled to Venice to take in the Biennale. Their trip in 1966—pictured here—when the family spent the year in Italy, was likely Charlie and Francesca’s first of many visits there, to explore both the exhibition and this captivating city.