All works by Francesca Woodman.
All works by Francesca Woodman.
PLOTLINE 5: FRANCESCA WOODMAN / Traces of Performance
PLOTLINE 5 considers the performative aspects of Francesca Woodman’s practice. In her photographs and videos, Woodman claimed the female body as subject by using her own - staging and sequencing its movements, capturing it in motion. The bodily, temporal, and spatial concerns in Woodman’s work align her with the feminist performance art of her time. Woodman’s photographs reveal traces of her carefully constructed performative process.
Francesca Woodman. From Polka Dots, Providence, Rhode Island, 1976. 5 1/8 x 5 1/8 in. Gelatin silver print.
Francesca Woodman. From Polka Dots, Providence, Rhode Island, 1976.
Francesca Woodman on The Great Women Artists Podcast
Katy Hessel of The Great Women Artists Podcast interviews Katarina Jerinic, the Woodman Family Foundation’s Collections Curator, on Francesca Woodman’s work and life. The two discuss photographs made in Providence, Italy and New York and Jerinic shares some of Woodman’s own words and ideas found in the Foundation's archives.
Two paintings of cake by Francesca Woodman, circa late 1970s / George Woodman in an interview discussing Francesca Woodman's idea for a pastry museum, 2007.
A painting of cake by Francesca Woodman, circa late 1970s.
Francesca Woodman's love of desserts: From the Archives…
Francesca Woodman's love of dessert was well-known to her family and friends, often coming up in letters or conversations, and even in two paintings she made in the late 1970s.
Francesca Woodman. Untitled, New York, 1979-80. 3 7/8 x 3 7/8 in. Gelatin silver print.
Francesca Woodman. Untitled, New York, 1979-80.
LAST CHANCE: Francesca Woodman in "The Body Electric" at National Gallery of Australia
LAST CHANCE to see Francesca Woodman in "The Body Electric" at the National Gallery of Australia!
Images L to R: Front and back of letter from Francesca to George and Betty, April 1977 / Letter from George to Francesca, April 17, 1977.
Front of letter from Francesca to George and Betty, April 1977.
Letters exchanged between Francesca Woodman and George Woodman, April 1977: From the Archives…
Francesca Woodman often used the backs of her photographs to write letters to family and friends, addressing, stamping and dropping her prints directly into the mailbox. In this exchange between her and George from April 1977, they discuss her first forays into fashion photography and other news from Providence and Boulder.
Images L to R: Francesca Woodman. Untitled, New York, 1979. 3 3/8 x 3 1/2 in. Chromogenic print / Francesca Woodman. Untitled, New York, 1979-80. Gelatin silver print. © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Francesca Woodman. Untitled, New York, 1979. 3 3/8 x 3 1/2 in. Chromogenic print.
Francesca Woodman: New York Works at Victoria Miro Venice, October 31-December 12
LAST CHANCE to see Francesca Woodman: New York Works in Venice this week! On view through Saturday, December 12, 2020 at Victoria Miro Venice.
Images L to R: Francesca Woodman in her dorm room at Abbot Academy, Andover, MA, c. 1972-73. Academic and Advisor Reports from Wendy Snyder MacNeil, Abbot Academy, 1972-1973.
Francesca Woodman in her dorm room at Abbot Academy, Andover, MA, c. 1972-73.
Francesca Woodman at Abbott Academy, 1972-1973: From the Archives…
From 1972-1973, Francesca Woodman studied at Abbot Academy, one of the few high schools in the US at the time to offer a concentrated art program. It was there that Francesca met Wendy Snyder MacNeil, her earliest, highly influential teacher who introduced her to the creative and expressive capabilities of photography.
Images from L to R: The Woodman family at home in Boulder, Colorado, circa 1963 / Sirotkin House, designed by Tician Papachristou, 1959, Boulder, Colorado, courtesy M. Gerwing Architects / Images 3-7: Interior and exterior views of the Woodman family home in the Sirotkin House, circa 1960s / Baskets in Betty’s studio before one of her twice-yearly sales.
The Woodman family at home in Boulder, Colorado, circa 1963.
The Woodmans in Boulder, Colorado, 1960s: From the Archives…
In 1960, after returning to Boulder, Colorado, from their first year together in Italy, the Woodman family moved into the Sirotkin House. One of more than a dozen modernist homes in Boulder by architect Tician Papachristou, the house was designed for the original owner as a pair with the house next door.
Francesca Woodman. Untitled, New York, 1979. 3 5/16 x 3 7/16 in. Chromogenic print.
Francesca Woodman. Untitled, New York, 1979. 3 5/16 x 3 7/16 in. Chromogenic print.
Francesca Woodman: New York Works at Victoria Miro Venice, October 31-December 12
This exhibition centers on a rare series of color photographs that Francesca Woodman staged in her New York apartment in 1979.
All images related to: Francesca Woodman, 'Blueprint for a Temple,' 1980. L to R: Artist's sketches / Installation views, Alternative Museum (including Francesca and Betsy Berne) / 'Beyond Photography 80' exhibition catalogue, Alternative Museum / Installation view, 'Spies in the House of Art,' Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012 / Diazotype collage, 173 1/4 x 111 3/16 in. / Diazotype, 24 1/2 x 18 in. / Diazotype, 24 1/2 x 18 1/4 in.
Francesca Woodman, Artist's sketch related to 'Blueprint for a Temple,' 1980.
Francesca Woodman’s Blueprint for a Temple, 1980: From the Archives…
In the spring of 1980, Francesca Woodman’s 'Blueprint for a Temple' was included in the exhibition 'Beyond Photography' at the Alternative Museum in New York City. This ambitiously-scaled work, made from photographs printed on architect’s blueprint paper, is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Images from left to right: Francesca and Charlie in their grembiule (Italian school uniforms), c. 1965-66 / George Woodman’s studio in a 16th century building, Italy, c. 1965-66 / Betty Woodman in her studio, Italy, 1965 / Francesca drawing in an Italian museum, c. 1965-66 / Charlie and Betty at the market, c. 1965-66 / George, Francesca and Betty in Italy, c. 1965-66.
Francesca and Charlie in their grembiule (Italian school uniforms), c. 1965-66.
The Woodmans in Italy, 1960s: From the Archives…
Beginning in 1965, Betty, George, Charlie and Francesca Woodman spent an influential year together as a family in Italy, immersed in museums, art, and culture. Their affinity for Florence took root, leading to the acquisition of a farmhouse in Antella several years later that has served as a family and creative nucleus ever since.
Invitation postcards by Francesca Woodman, Libreria Maldoror, Rome, Italy, 1978.
Invitation postcards by Francesca Woodman, Libreria Maldoror, Rome, Italy, 1977: From the Archives…
Not long after Francesca Woodman arrived in Rome in 1977 on the RISD European Honors Program, she discovered the surrealist bookshop Maldoror, where she later had her first solo exhibition in Europe. She made unique, individual invitations to the show, each featuring one of her photographs attached to a postcard.