From the Archives
A look back
L to R: George Woodman with one of his early landscape paintings, c. 1962 | "Untitled," c. 1963. 70 x 70 in. Oil on canvas / "Untitled," c. 1961-62. 61 x 51 in. Oil on canvas | Artist statement, c. 1962. All works by George Woodman
George Woodman with one of his early landscape paintings, c 1962. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
George Woodman’s early 1960s landscape paintings
George Woodman’s landscape paintings from the early 1960s were influenced by modernists from Cézanne to Diebenkorn and profoundly impacted by his year-long stay in Italy. “The landscape in Italy is not the same. Italy is not a natural object. The earth is shaped. The hillsides are terraced… I painted many more Italian landscapes in Boulder than I ever did in Italy."
L to R: Two paintings of cake by Francesca Woodman, c. 1970s | George Woodman in an interview discussing Francesca Woodman's idea for a pastry museum, 2007. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
A painting of cake by Francesca Woodman, circa late 1970s. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
Francesca Woodman's love of desserts
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.
A note to Betty Woodman from George Woodman, circa 1951-52 / A note from Betty Woodman to George Woodman, c. 1951-52. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
A note to Betty Woodman from George Woodman, c. 1951-52. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
Notes of love exchanged between Betty and George Woodman, 1951-52
George Woodman and Betty Woodman began their nearly seven decade relationship in life and art in 1950. While Betty was on a year-long solo trip to Fiesole, Italy from 1951-52, the two regularly exchanged passionate love letters and affectionate notes.
The Abrahams Family New Year card, circa 1946-1950. From left to right: Betty, Minnie, Henry and Dot Abrahams.
The Abrahams Family New Year card, c. 1946-50. L to R: Betty, Minnie, Henry and Dot Abrahams. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
Happy New Year from Henry, Minnie, Dot and Betty Abrahams
Betty Abrahams Woodman was raised with her sister in Newton, Massachusetts by their “liberal, anti-religious and culturally ambitious” parents who fostered in their daughters the importance of responsibility and self-determination. This New Year’s card from the late 40s - early 50s reveals a young Betty with her family.
L to R: Front and back of letter from Francesca to George and Betty, April 1977 / Letter from George to Francesca, April 17, 1977. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
Front of letter from Francesca to George and Betty, April 1977. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
Letters exchanged between Francesca Woodman and George Woodman, April 1977
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.
From “Pattern and Place,” by Gini Sikes, Metropolis, October 1984; pp. 17-19, 26.
Metropolis Magazine, October 1984. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
Betty and George Woodman in Metropolis Magazine, October 1984
After acquiring a loft in New York City in 1980, Betty and George began to split their time between homes and studios in Manhattan, Boulder, Colorado and Antella, Italy—a way of living that became vital to their work. A 1984 feature on the couple in the magazine Metropolis chronicles their dynamic lives, relationship and art.
George Woodman’s studio in Antella, Italy. Images 1-5: Studio under construction, 2008. Image 6: Inside George’s studio, c. 2016. Image 7: George in his studio, 2009, photo by Stefano Porcinai.
George Woodman’s studio in Antella, Italy. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
George Woodman’s renovated studio in Antella, Italy, 2008
A former wine cellar underneath the family's stone farmhouse in Antella, Italy was transformed in to a new photography and painting studio for George Woodman, with surrounding views of the Tuscan countryside.
All images related to "Chinese Pleasure," 2007-2008, 27 x 12 x 1 feet, glazed earthenware, terra sigillatta, canvas. Images L to R: Betty Woodman / Proposal materials / Views of installation.
Betty Woodman with Chinese Pleasure (2007-2008) at the American Embassy in Beijing, 2008. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
Betty Woodman’s permanent installation Chinese Pleasure at the United States Embassy in Beijing, China, 2007-2008
Betty Woodman’s "Chinese Pleasure" (2007-2008) was commissioned by the U.S. Department of State Art in Embassies Program for the United States Embassy in Beijing. Woodman was inspired by and freely borrowed from visual influences all over the world and throughout art history, here incorporating three distinct moments in the history of Chinese art, ranging from Sichuan bronzes to popular culture into this dramatic installation.
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, Massachusetts, c. 1972-73. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
Francesca Woodman at Abbott Academy, 1972-1973
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.
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, c. 1963. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
The Woodmans in Boulder, Colorado, 1960s
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.
All images related to George Woodman, The Rochester Carpet, 1984, Bevier Gallery, RIT, Rochester, NY. L to R: Installation view with the artist / Installation view / Students sorting patterns before painting / Pages from the artist's instructions / article in the Times-Union, Rochester, NY, December 6, 1984.
Installation view, George Woodman, "The Rochester Carpet," 1984, Bevier Gallery, RIT, Rochester, NY. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
George Woodman’s paper tile installation at Rochester Institute of Technology, December 1984
George Woodman’s "The Rochester Carpet" was a sprawling, patterned mosaic temporarily covering the floor of the Bevier Gallery at Rochester Institute of Technology in December of 1984. This site-specific work was just one of the artist’s ambitious and encompassing tile projects, extending his earlier practice as an abstract painter by employing complex systems of pattern and color across public spaces.
L to R: Betty Woodman working at the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, France, c. 1987 / Installation views, Betty Woodman: L’allegra vitalità delle porcellane, Palazzo Pitti, Museo delle Porcelane, Florence, Italy, 2010 / Betty Woodman. Puccini, 1989. 6 x 13.2 x 8.274 in. Glazed porcelain / Betty Woodman. Beccafumi, 2002. 8.9 x 7.9 x 8.2 in. Glazed porcelain © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Betty Woodman working at the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, France, c. 1987. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
Betty Woodman's Sèvres porcelain, 1987
In 1987, Betty Woodman began her work at the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, as an artist invited by the French Ministry of Culture. Over the course of more than twenty years, she made a series of sculptural vases and cups and saucers in brilliantly decorated porcelain, later shown at the Palazzo Pitti in her adopted home city of Florence.