L to R: 1: “Untitled,” 1978, 49 x 49 in. Acrylic on canvas | 2: Installation view, “George Woodman: A Democracy of Parts, Paintings 1966-1978,” DC Moore Gallery, New York, New York, 2025 | 3: “Grey Portal,” 1978, 84 x 84 in. Acrylic on canvas | 4: “Untitled,” 1978, 48 x 48 in. Acrylic on canvas | 5-7: Installation views, “Three Paper Tilings,” Claremore College, Claremore, Oklahoma, 1979 | 8: Installation view, “Paper Tilings,” Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado, 1980 | 9: “Sentimental Geometry,” 1981, 120 x 252 in. Paper tiles. Installation view, “Criss-Cross at Yellowstone,” Yellowstone Art Center, Billings, Montana, 1981 | 10-11: “Rochester Carpet,” 1984. Hand-painted chipboard tile installation. Bevier Gallery, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, 1984. All artworks by George Woodman © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
George Woodman. “Untitled,” 1978, 49 x 49 in. Acrylic on canvas © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Aperiodic tiling. "George Woodman: A Democracy of Parts, Paintings 1966-1978," DC Moore Gallery, New York, 2025
By 1977, George Woodman’s tessellation paintings became non-periodic or aperiodic, consisting of a set of shapes which tiled the canvas but did not necessarily repeat.
L to R: 1: “Untitled,” c. 1970s, 72 x 108 in. Medium unknown | 2: Spread from “Criss-Cross Art Communications,” No. 6, published by Criss Cross Foundation, 1978 | 3: Various issues of “Criss-Cross Art Communications” | 4: “Untitled,” c. 1970s, dimensions and medium unknown | 5: “285” or “Bari” or “Winterreise,” 1975, 65 x 65 in. Acrylic on canvas | 6: “Tessellation Sky,” 1975, 54 1/2 x 54 1/2 in. Acrylic on canvas | 7: Spread from the exhibition catalogue for “19 Artists—Emergent Americans,” published by Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1981 | 8-9: Installation views, “19 Artists—Emergent Americans,” Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1981 | 10: “Double Reflection,” 1970, 66 x 66 in. Oil on canvas. All artworks by George Woodman © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
George Woodman. “Untitled,” c. 1970s, 72 x 108 in. Medium unknown © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
The Criss-Cross and Pattern & Decoration Movements. "George Woodman: A Democracy of Parts, Paintings 1966-1978," DC Moore Gallery, New York, 2025
By the mid-70s, George Woodman’s singular approach to pattern painting—as harmony between color and form—was well established and recognized among artists and critics alike. Woodman’s canvases were part of the larger zeitgeist around pattern in the art of this period.
L to R: 1, 3, 5: “Untitled,” c. 1973-74 | 2: George Woodman with sculpture, Antella, Italy, c. 1970s | 4: “Untitled,” 1975, 60 x 60 in. Acrylic on canvas | 6: “5 Sided Column,” c. 1973 | 7: “Untitled,” c. 1973 | 8: “Untitled,” c. 1974 | 9-10: Photographed sketches and notes, undated | 11: “Untitled,” c. 1964. Pyramid-shaped painting suspended from a tree in Woodman’s backyard, Boulder, Colorado. All sketches and artworks by George Woodman © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
George Woodman. “Untitled,” c. 1973-74 © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Woodman Family Foundation Archives
George Woodman's geometric sculptures. "George Woodman: A Democracy of Parts, Paintings 1966-1978," DC Moore Gallery, New York, 2025
George Woodman’s tessellated pattern paintings built upon observations made in the three-dimensional realm of architecture, specifically in the tiled surfaces that covered walls and floors as they emerged from and receded into space.
L to R: 1: “A Gentle Tessellation,” 1966/1968, 43 1/4 x 43 1/4 in. Acrylic on canvas | 2: “Pattern on Trapezoid,” 1967, 58 x 42 in. Acrylic on canvas | 3: Spread from “Award Winning Artists: Southeast and Southwest,” published by the National Council on the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts, 1968 | 4: “Untitled,” 1970, 96 x 134 in. Acrylic on canvas | 5: “Untitled,” c. 1966, dimensions & medium unknown | 6: George Woodman’s studio, Boulder, Colorado, c. 1967. Woodman Family Foundation Archives | 7: “Equivocal Hexagon,” 1967, 48 x 48 in. Acrylic on canvas | 8: “Untitled,” 1969, 48 1/4 x 48 1/4 in. Acrylic on canvas. All artworks by George Woodman © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
George Woodman. “A Gentle Tessellation,” 1966/1968, 43 1/4 x 43 1/4 in. Acrylic on canvas © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
George Woodman's tessellations. "George Woodman: A Democracy of Parts, Paintings 1966-1978," DC Moore Gallery, New York, 2025
Tessellations are a type of pattern in which one or more geometric shapes are repeated—and often rotated and reflected—to seamlessly cover a surface. In George Woodman’s case, that surface was a canvas.
L to R: 1: George Woodman, Alhambra, Granada, Spain, c. 1965 | 2, 5, 9: Tile patterns in Alhambra, Granada, Spain, 1965 | 3: “7 Colors in 4’s,” 1966, 67 x 67 in. Acrylic on canvas | 4: Alhambra Palace baths, Granada, Spain. Photo © Guido Montanes Castillo | 6: “Untitled,” 1966, 66 1/2 x 66 1/2 in. Oil on canvas | 7: Sketch for painting, c. 1965-66 | 8: “San Francisco di Paolo” or “Axe Pattern,” 1966, 43 x 43 in. Acrylic on canvas | 10: Charles Woodman and Francesca Woodman, Alhambra, Granada, Spain, c. 1965 | 11: Betty Woodman, Alhambra, Granada, Spain, c. 1965. All artworks, sketches, and photos by George Woodman © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
George Woodman, Alhambra, Granada, Spain, c. 1965. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
George Woodman's travels to Alhambra, Granada, Spain. "George Woodman: A Democracy of Parts, Paintings 1966-1978," DC Moore Gallery, New York, 2025
In 1965, George Woodman visited Granada, Spain to see the Alhambra, the iconic monument to Islamic architecture where geometry, ornamentation and architecture harmoniously converge in a multitude of tiled and carved surfaces.
L to R: Betty Woodman. "Balustrade Relief Vase: 30," 1991, 55 x 38 x 8 1/2 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, paint © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York | Installation view, "Drop, Cloth," Hollis Taggart Gallery, New York, 2025. Image courtesy Hollis Taggart Gallery | "Drop, Cloth." New York: Hollis Taggart, 2025
Betty Woodman. "Balustrade Relief Vase: 30," 1991, 55 x 38 x 8 1/2 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, paint © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Image courtesy Hollis Taggart Gallery.
ON VIEW: Betty Woodman in "Drop, Cloth," Hollis Taggart Gallery, New York, New York, 2025
Curated by Glenn Adamson and Severin Delfs, “Drop, Cloth” traces a 50-year lineage of draping in contemporary art. As Delfs explains, drapery is presented here "as a flexible visual language that connects perception to material form,” explored through approaches that are “diaphanous and ephemeral," "material and sculptural," and "pictorial and painterly.”
L to R: “Untitled,” c. 1976, 4 11/16 x 4 5/8 in. Gelatin silver print | "Self-Portrait at Thirteen,” c. 1972, 6 3/4 x 6 11/16 in. Gelatin silver print | “Untitled,” c. 1977-78, 5 15/16 x 5 7/8 in. Gelatin silver print | “The Woman Question 1550–2025,” edited by Alison M. Gingeras. The University of Chicago Press, 2026. All works by Francesca Woodman © Woodman Family Foundation / ZAIKS, Warsaw.
Francesca Woodman. “Untitled,” c. 1976, 4 11/16 x 4 5/8 in. Gelatin silver print © Woodman Family Foundation / ZAIKS, Warsaw
ON VIEW: Francesca Woodman in “The Woman Question 1550-2025,” Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland, 2025
Curated by Alison M. Gingeras, this exhibition brings together nearly 200 works that defy the myth of women’s absence from art history. Spanning 500 years—from the Renaissance and Baroque to the 20th century—it offers a powerful visual history of women’s centuries-long "emancipation."
L to R: 1: "Lightning" or "Lightning Legs," 1976, 5 x 5 1/8 in. | 2: "Space²," 1976, from the "Space²" series, 5 1/8 x 5 1/16 in. | 3: "Untitled," 1977, 3 1/16 x 3 1/8 in. | 4: Installation view, “Women Photographers 1853-2018," National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia, 2025. Photo courtesy and copyright National Gallery of Australia. All lifetime gelatin silver prints. Collection of the National Gallery of Australia. Works by Francesca Woodman © Copyright Agency, Sydney
Francesca Woodman. "Lightning" or "Lightning Legs," 1976, 5 x 5 1/8 in © Woodman Family Foundation / Copyright Agency, Sydney
ON VIEW: Francesca Woodman in “Women Photographers 1853-2018,” National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia, 2025
Curated by Anne O’Hehir, Magdalene Keaney, and Shaune Lakin, this exhibition explores how women have reshaped the photographic landscape through works spanning more than 160 years.
L to R: 1-3, 5, 6: Installation views, “The Mad MAD World of Jonathan Adler,” Museum of Arts and Design, 2025 | 4: Betty Woodman. “Indonesian Napkin Holder,” 1984, 18 1/2 x 22 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. Glazed earthenware © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York | 7: Installation view, “The Mad MAD World of Jonathan Adler" © Museum of Arts and Design
Installation view, “The Mad MAD World of Jonathan Adler,” Museum of Arts and Design, 2025
ON VIEW: Betty Woodman in "The Mad MAD World of Jonathan Adler,” Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York, 2025
Curated by potter, interior designer, and author Jonathan Adler, this vibrant exhibition at MAD brings together over 60 works from the museum’s permanent collection, juxtaposed with Adler’s own iconic designs.
L to R: 1, 5: Installation views from “Places to Dream,” Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg, Aalborg, Denmark, 2025 © Niels Fabæk, Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg | 2: “Untitled,” 1980. Archival pigment print | 3: “Untitled,” 1979, 3 3/8 x 3 1/2 in. Digital chromogenic print | 4: “Untitled,” 1979, 3 3/8 x 3/12 in. Digital chromogenic print | 6: “Space2, 1976, from the Space2 series. 5 7/8 x 5 5/8 in. Gelatin silver print. All artworks by Francesca Woodman © Woodman Family Foundation / VISDA, Copenhagen
Installation view from “Places to Dream,” Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg, Aalborg, Denmark, 2025 © Niels Fabæk, Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg
ON VIEW: Francesca Woodman in "Places to Dream," Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg, Aalborg, Denmark, 2025
This September marks the final opportunity to view Places to Dream, an exhibition featuring photographs by Francesca Woodman alongside works by Cindy Sherman, Ana Mendieta, Birgit Jürgenssen, and Nan Goldin, among others.
L to R: 1: "Space²," 1976, from the "Space²" series, 5 1/16 x 4 13/16 in. | 2, 3, 7: Installation views, “Medardo Rosso: Inventing Modern Sculpture,” Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland, 2025. Photo: Max Ehrengruber. Image courtesy Kunstmuseum Basel | 4: “Legs,” 1976, 5 1/4 x 5 3/16 in. | 5: “Untitled,” c. 1975-78, 6 1/4 x 6 9/16 in. | 6: “#1” or “House #1” or “Abandoned House,” 1976, from the “Abandoned House” series, 5 11/16 x 5 3/4 in. | 8-9: Installation views, “Medardo Rosso: Inventing Modern Sculpture,” Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland, 2025. Photo: Julian Salinas. Image courtesy Kunstmuseum Basel | All gelatin silver prints. Artworks by Francesca Woodman © Woodman Family Foundation / ProLitteris, Zurich
Francesca Woodman. "Space²," 1976, from the "Space²" series, 5 1/16 x 4 13/16 in. Gelatin silver print © Woodman Family Foundation / ProLitteris, Zurich
ON VIEW: Francesca Woodman in "Medardo Rosso: Inventing Modern Sculpture,” Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland, 2025
This Art Basel, visit the Kunstmuseum Basel to see Francesca Woodman’s photographs featured in "Medardo Rosso: Inventing Modern Sculpture."
Installation view, "George Woodman: A Democracy of Parts, Paintings 1966-1978," DC Moore Gallery, New York, 2025
Exhibition Video for "George Woodman: A Democracy of Parts, Paintings 1966-1978," DC Moore Gallery, New York, 2025
Watch the exhibition video to listen to Rebecca Lowery, Curator of Exhibitions at the Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University, discusses George Woodman's evolving use of tessellations and color.