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The Woodman Family Foundation was established by Betty Woodman (1930-2018) and George Woodman (1932-2017) during their lifetimes. Love of beauty was at the heart of their lives and art. In this spirit, the Foundation is dedicated to stewarding the artistic legacies of Betty, George, and their daughter, Francesca Woodman (1958-1981).

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The Woodmans, Nancy Graves and Richard Serra in Italy: FROM THE ARCHIVES...
The Woodmans, Nancy Graves and Richard Serra in Italy: FROM THE ARCHIVES...
Over the course of a year from 1965-66, the Woodman family lived and worked in Italy, just outside of Florence. During that time, Betty and George became close friends with the artists and then-couple Nancy Graves and Richard Serra, who, like Betty, was there for the year on a Fulbright-Hays scholarship. They spent many hours together around the table, sharing meals, funny hats and conversations about art.
Betty Woodman's glazes, paints, and brushes: FROM THE ARCHIVES...
Betty Woodman's glazes, paints, and brushes: FROM THE ARCHIVES...
Betty Woodman’s numerous glazes, paints, and the varied configurations of brushes—sometimes mixed or assembled by the artist herself to achieve desired color swatches, brushy marks, and parallel stripes—reflect her continuously innovative work with ceramic forms.
Across oceans and borders, a customs declaration became a promise: FROM THE ARCHIVES...
Across oceans and borders, a customs declaration became a promise: FROM THE ARCHIVES...
Around 1952, a young George Woodman in Cambridge, Massachusetts, penned his devotion on a USPS customs form: “Little box with littler box inside” and “1 engagement ring of Navajo silver with turquoises.” The precious 4-ounce package was destined for the hands of Elizabeth Abrahams (later to be known as Betty Woodman) across the ocean in Fiesole, Italy, where she had been living and working for the past year.
OPENING Wednesday, March 13: "Francesca Woodman," Gagosian, March 13-April 27, 2024
OPENING Wednesday, March 13: "Francesca Woodman," Gagosian, March 13-April 27, 2024
Gagosian’s inaugural exhibition of works by Francesca Woodman presents key prints made by the artist from approximately 1975 through 1980. The photographs on view represent a culmination of Woodman’s exploration of the figure in space and prompt a reconsideration of how she drew on classical sculpture and architecture throughout her career.
“Francesca Woodman: The Artist’s Books” in London
“Francesca Woodman: The Artist’s Books” in London
Francesca Woodman’s eight unique artist books demonstrate the artist’s nuanced and sophisticated approach to narrative and sequencing. Don’t miss two opportunities in London to learn more about these remarkable works.
OPENING Thursday, March 21: "Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits to Dream In," National Portrait Gallery, March 21-June 16, 2024
OPENING Thursday, March 21: "Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits to Dream In," National Portrait Gallery, March 21-June 16, 2024
"Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits to Dream In" offers fresh perspectives on the work of two of the most influential women in the history of photography who lived and worked nearly a century apart.
Francesca Woodman in "The New York Times," March 2024
Francesca Woodman in "The New York Times," March 2024
In today's "New York Times," critic Arthur Lubow sheds light on “Blueprint for a Temple (II)” (currently on view at Gagosian Gallery), a monumental diazotype collage discovered in summer 2022—41 years after the passing of Francesca Woodman.
"Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits to Dream In" in "The Guardian," 2024
"Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits to Dream In" in "The Guardian," 2024
In this review on "The Guardian" of “Portraits to Dream In,” Sean O’Hagan underscores the “intriguing pairing” of Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron by curator Magdalene Keaney at National Portrait Gallery.
A glimpse into George Woodman's slide collection: FROM THE ARCHIVES...
A glimpse into George Woodman's slide collection: FROM THE ARCHIVES...
Our archival intern Erin Moss, who is in her second year at the Pratt School of Information earning her MLIS, has been processing George Woodman's extensive slide collection this semester. The slide collection consists of thousands of 35mm or medium format slides from the 1950s through the early 2000s documenting both George's work and personal life. Erin has been struck by the experience of discovering an artist through their own archival materials.
Betty Woodman at The ADAA Art Show
Betty Woodman at The ADAA Art Show
This solo presentation of wall-based works by Woodman focuses on the culminating phase of her 60-year career. The paintings on view--on canvas, ceramic, and paper--illuminate the artist's daring approach to materials and radical explorations of two- and three-dimensional form.
Francesca Woodman. "Untitled," 1976, Providence, Rhode Island
Francesca Woodman. "Untitled," 1976, Providence, Rhode Island
As the child of artists, Francesca Woodman grew up on the periphery of the Fine Arts Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where her father, George Woodman, taught painting and the philosophy of art. Well-versed as she was from a young age in art history and contemporary art, Francesca was famously precocious in asserting her own ideas. In this series of photographs, which she gifted to her father, she humorously and good-naturedly carves out her own position as an artist, bursting through a poster for his 1976 lecture on minimalist heavy-weight Sol LeWitt, replacing it with a poster for her own exhibition at the Addison Gallery, and then herself.
Ephemera used in George Woodman's photographs: FROM THE ARCHIVES...
Ephemera used in George Woodman's photographs: FROM THE ARCHIVES...
"…[T]hings have a life, greater or smaller, in the eye and the mind. This life unfolds, no limits can be set upon it, and the way it happens may be similar or very dissimilar from one person to another,” George Woodman wrote of objects generally, when considering those housed in museum collections, but these observations illuminate his own approach to still life and photography. The Woodman Family Foundation Archives include an eclectic array of found objects, toys and fabrics used by Woodman in his photographs.