L to R: “Untitled,” 1979. 6 3/4 x 6 3/4 in. | Contact sheet, Providence, Rhode Island, c. 1975-78. 10 x 8 in | “Untitled,” 1979, 7 3/8 x 9 1/2 in. All gelatin silver prints. All works by Francesca Woodman © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Francesca Woodman. “Untitled,” 1979. 6 3/4 x 6 3/4 in. Gelatin silver print © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Contact sheets, Francesca Woodman: "Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories," Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Francesca Woodman’s contact sheets are revealing about her process, demonstrating ways that ideas took shape as she explored and realized them while printing. Each contact sheet has at least a half a dozen frames trying to work out what the right composition should be for a particular photograph. Here she experiments with a variety of compositions and poses, concerned with juxtaposing various patterns, fabrics and the body.
Francesca Woodman. "Untitled," 1980. 4 15/16 x 4 15/16 in. Gelatin silver print © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Isolde Brielmaier on the work of Francesca Woodman: "Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories," Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
On the occasion of “Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories,” Marian Goodman Gallery commissioned eight video vignettes by an array of art historians, curators, and artists, each whom brought their own perspective to Woodman’s work and the exhibition currently on view. In this video, Isolde Brielmaier, Deputy Director of the New Museum and the Curator-at-Large at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York, shares her thoughts on Woodman’s use of the body and the nude in her highly crafted photographs.
L to R: “Untitled,” c. 1977, 5 1/4 x 5 1/4 in. | “Untitled,” c. 1977-78, 4 11/16 x 4 11/16 in. | “Untitled,” 1976, 5 3/8 x 5 9/16 in. | "Untitled," c. 1975-78, 4 1/16 x 4 3/16 in. All gelatin silver prints. All works by Francesca Woodman © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Francesca Woodman. “Untitled,” c. 1977, 5 1/4 x 5 1/4 in. Gelatin silver print © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Glimpses of hands and feet, Francesca Woodman: "Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories," Marian Goodman Gallery New York
Francesca Woodman was well-acquainted with the traditions of Classical Western art and representations of the figure within it, which seeped into her own picture-making. While perhaps better-known for her photographs of the full female body—she specified that she used nudes “in an ironic sense like classical painting nudes"—Woodman returned again and again to highly composed glimpses of hands and feet.
Francesca Woodman. "Untitled," c. 1977-78, 4 9/16 x 4 11/16 in. Gelatin silver print © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Francesca Woodman. "Untitled," Rome, Italy, 1977-78. 4 5/8 x 4 3/4 in. Gelatin silver print.
Ann Gabhart on the work of Francesca Woodman: "Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories," Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
On the occasion of “Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories,” Marian Goodman Gallery commissioned eight video vignettes by an array of art historians, curators, and artists, each whom brought their own perspective to Woodman’s work and the exhibition currently on view. In this video, Ann Gabhart, Woodman Family Foundation Board member, former Director of the Wellesley College Museum, and curator of Woodman’s first solo museum exhibition at Wellesley and Hunter Colleges in 1986, reflects on her early experiences with and impressions of Woodman’s work.
L to R: All artworks by Francesca Woodman. “Splatter Paint,” Rome, Italy, 1977-78. 4 5/8 x 4 5/8 in / “Untitled,” Italy, 1977-78. 4 5/8 x 4 5/8 in (Giuseppe Gallo with Francesca Woodman) / All gelatin silver prints / Giuseppe Gallo, Bruno Ceccobelli, Francesca Woodman, Angelo Segneri, and Gianni Dessi installing the exhibition “Cinque Giovani Artisti" at Galleria Ugo Ferranti, Rome, 1978, photo © Mimmo Capone / Ugo Ferranti Archive / 4-5: Invitation card for “Cinque Giovani Artisti" at Galleria Ugo Ferranti, Rome, 1978. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
Francesca Woodman. “Splatter Paint,” c. 1977-78. 4 5/8 x 4 5/8 in © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Ugo Ferranti Gallery, Rome, Italy: "Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories," Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
"While I was in Rome my Junior year I began to work with the ideas that presently occupy me,” Francesca Woodman wrote in 1980. “I also met a number of Italian artists who shared similar concerns in other mediums. In June we had a show at the Ugo Ferranti Gallery, my first exhibition in a prestigious gallery. That year I also showed at the Libreria Maldoror, a book store and gallery specializing in Futurist and Dada Literature. The owners introduced me to many rare books and writers, ets.”
L to R: Contact sheet and artworks by Francesca Woodman. Contact sheet, Italy, c. 1978. 10 x 8 in. Gelatin silver print. Collection of Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art / Project sketch by Francesca Woodman, c. 1978 / “Untitled,” 1978. 4 9/16 x 4 9/16 in. Gelatin silver print / “Untitled,” 1978. 4 5/8 x 4 5/8 in. Gelatin silver print © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Francesca Woodman. Contact sheet, Italy, c. 1978. 10 x 8 in. Gelatin silver print © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
"Ideas in Antella," Antella, Italy: "Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories," Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Francesca Woodman was deliberate about the photographs she made, frequently sketching in her journal and jotting down notes about her concepts and intentions. Here you can see the evolution of some specific “Ideas in Antella:” first as simple drawings, then translated from photographic negatives to a contact sheet, and finally as the pair of lush and mysterious gelatin silver prints now on view at Marian Goodman Gallery New York.
Francesca Woodman. "Untitled," c. 1975, 7 1/4 x 7 1/4 in. Gelatin silver print © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
REVIEW: "Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories" featured in 4Columns Magazine, November 2021
Read about Francesca Woodman's work and new solo exhibition "Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories" in a review by Johanna Fateman in 4Columns magazine. The exhibition is currently on view at Marian Goodman Gallery New York through December 23.
L to R: “Untitled," c. 1976. 4 11/16 x 4 11/16 in. | “Untitled," c. 1976. 4 5/8 x 4 5/8 in. | “Untitled,” c. 1976. 5 3/16 x 5 3/16 in. | Images 4-7: “Untitled,” made at La Specola, Florence, Italy, c. 1971. All gelatin silver prints. All works by Francesca Woodman © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Francesca Woodman. “Untitled," c. 1976. 4 11/16 x 4 11/16 in. Gelatin silver print © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
La Specola Museum, Florence, Italy: "Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories,” Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Over the course of Francesca Woodman's solo exhibition "Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories" at Marian Goodman Gallery New York, we’ll be sharing additional images and materials from Woodman’s archive which shed light on her process and elaborate on specific works currently on view.
Francesca Woodman in XIBT Magazine, November 2021
Francesca Woodman. "Untitled," 1978, 4 11/16 x 4 11/16 in. Gelatin silver print © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
INTERVIEW: "Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories" featured in XIBT Magazine, November 2021
Read about the work of Francesca Woodman in the new issue of XIBT Magazine. Included are an interview with the Foundation's Executive Director Lissa McClure and Dr. Kostas Prapoglou and images of some of the vintage photographs currently on view in "Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories" at Marian Goodman Gallery New York through December 23, 2021.
L to R: Installation views, "Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories," Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, 2021. Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery. Photos by Alex Yudzon.
Installation view, "Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories," Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, 2021. Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery. Photo: Alex Yudzon
"Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories" at Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, New York, 2021
This solo exhibition of vintage photographs by Francesca Woodman includes more than twenty previously unseen works and draws on the artist's writings about her practice in newly available archival material from the Foundation's holdings. The show presents thematic threads and groupings of images in relational contexts, offering a fresh perspective on Woodman's work.
Francesca Woodman. Contact sheet, c. 1977-78. 8 x 10 in. Gelatin silver print © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
IN CONVERSATION: "Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories" on Yale Radio with Lissa McClure and Brainard Carey, 2021
Our Executive Director Lissa McClure was recently in conversation with Brainard Carey on Yale Radio about Francesca Woodman’s upcoming solo exhibition “Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories” at Marian Goodman Gallery, New York. They spoke about the inclusion of never-before-seen photographs and Woodman's own writings about her work, her compositional and conceptual grounding, and this exciting opportunity to view the work through new lenses.
Betty Woodman. Installation view and details, "Alessandro’s Rooms," 2011. 102.5 x 354.5 x 15.75 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, acrylic paint, canvas © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Betty Woodman. "Alessandro’s Rooms," 2011. 102.5 x 354.5 x 15.75 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, acrylic paint, canvas © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
ON VIEW: Betty Woodman in "The Flames: The Age of Ceramics" at Musee d'Art Moderne de Paris, Paris, France, 2021
"The Flames" takes a transhistorical approach to ceramics to assert the critical relationship of clay to both art and humankind. The exhibition combines ancient objects dating back to the Neolithic with those made by contemporary artists—including Betty Woodman—and everything in between.