Customs declaration form penned by George Woodman. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
Customs declaration form penned by George Woodman. Woodman Family Foundation 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.
L to R: Images 1-4: Betty Woodman’s brushes / Detail of "Roman Girls," 2008, 35 x 70 x 11 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, paint / Detail of "History of the Amphora," 2011, 6 ft. x 8 ft. x 1 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, acrylic paint / Detail of “Country House,” 2005, 66 x 32 x 9 1/2 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer / Woodman’s glazes / Detail of "Spring Wall Relief," 2009, 60 x 48 x 1 in. Glazed earthenware / Detail of "His and Hers Vases: Ferris Wheel," 2006, 28.5 x 73 x 14.5 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, and paint / All works by Betty Woodman. © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
Betty Woodman’s brushes. Woodman Family Foundation 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.
L to R: Betty Woodman, Francesca Woodman and Nancy Graves in Italy, 1966 / Charlie Woodman and Richard Serra in Italy, 1966 / Betty Woodman with Nancy Graves, Richard Serra and unknown friend in Italy, 1965. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
Betty Woodman, Francesca Woodman and Nancy Graves in Italy, 1966. Woodman Family Foundation 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.
L to R: George Woodman, c. 1963 from slide preserver with slides most likely from his solo exhibition at Henderson Gallery, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1963. The installation views of such an early show in George's career are so exciting to see, especially since there are far fewer photos of these earlier shows / Photo of George’s New York studio with “Lattice Lady with Convolvulus,” 1986 visible in the background. I love getting glimpses of the artist's studios and how the set up of them reflects the artist himself / George's Palazzo Pitti show in 1987 where he can be seen taking the photo in a mirror. I don't actually get to see images of George, so I liked that he set up this shot so that you could see him actually taking the photo / Overview of a small portion of slide cases in George's collection. Not the prettiest picture, but it's interesting to see the number of slide cases in the collection and George's handwriting on each of them / Slide preserver with slides from a trip to Spain in 1965 featuring photos of tiles, nature, and people. I like how even on a trip, George is still thinking about his art and taking photos of things that can inspire his own work / Slide of George Woodman. “Untitled #VIII,” c. 1980s. Monotype. 30 x 22 in. I thought it was interesting to see the process and sketch of an artwork and how it is different from the final product / Slide preserver “Pictures of house 1965” featuring the interior and exterior of the family’s house in Boulder, Colorado. It's a view into the personal life and residence of George, and one of the few times in the slides where it seems that none of the photos are related to any artworks or research / Slide of George Woodman. “Untitled,” 1966. A medium format slide of one of George's earlier paintings that I really enjoyed / Slide preserver with slides from a trip to Morocco featuring photos of tiles, pottery, and the landscape. George is still thinking about his art and took photos of things that would inspire his own work. All materials George Woodman Collection, Woodman Family Foundation Archives, New York.
George Woodman, c. 1963 from slide preserver with slides most likely from his solo exhibition at Henderson Gallery, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1963. George Woodman Collection, Woodman Family Foundation Archives, New York.
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.
L to R: All artworks by Betty Woodman. “Green Checks,” 2014. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, acrylic paint, canvas, and wood. 60 1/2 x 43 x 10 1/4 in. Photo: Brian Forrest / “Tuesday Afternoon,” 2016. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, acrylic paint, and canvas. 84 x 38 x 13 in. Photo: Jeff McLane / “From Nina’s Room,” 2016. Acrylic paint, pencil, ink, and collage on paper. 29 x 36 in. Photo: Phoebe d’Heurle. All images Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery.
Betty Woodman. “Green Checks,” 2014. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, acrylic paint, canvas, and wood. 60 1/2 x 43 x 10 1/4 in. Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery. Photo: Brian Forrest.
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.
L to R: All images Francesca Woodman. “Untitled,” 1976, Providence, Rhode Island. Gelatin silver prints. 10 x 24 in.
Francesca Woodman. “Untitled,” 1976, Providence, Rhode Island. Gelatin silver prints. 10 x 24 in.
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.
L to R: All artworks by George Woodman. Pair: “Repose (The Sleeper),” 2003. 24 x 30 in / Ephemera, c. 1950s-2010s, George Woodman Collection, Woodman Family Foundation Archives, New York / “Repose (The Sleeper),” 2003. 24 x 30 in / Images 3-4, 8: Ephemera, c. 1980s-2010s, George Woodman Collection, Woodman Family Foundation Archives, New York / “Saskia in a Still Life,” 2003. 30 x 22 in / “Jessica and Airplane,” 2002. 30 x 40 in / “Still Life with Rachel,” 1997. 20 x 16 in. All artworks gelatin silver prints.
Pair: George Woodman. “Repose (The Sleeper),” 2003. 24 x 30 in. Gelatin silver print / Ephemera, c. 1950s-2010s, George Woodman Collection, Woodman Family Foundation Archives, New York.
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.
All artworks by Francesca Woodman. “Untitled,” Andover, Massachusetts, c. 1972-74. 3 x 4 1/4 in / “Untitled,” MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire, 1980. 3 3/4 x 3 13/16 in / “Untitled,” Providence, Rhode Island, 1976. 5 3/16 x 5 3/16 in / “Untitled,” Newport, Rhode Island, 1976. 6 1/2 x 6 7/8 in / “Untitled,” Newport, Rhode Island, 1976. 6 3/8 x 6 3/8 in. All gelatin silver prints.
Francesca Woodman. Detail of “Untitled,” Andover, Massachusetts, c. 1972-74. 3 x 4 1/4 in. Gelatin silver print.
OPENING Thursday October 5th: Francesca Woodman in "RE/SISTERS: A Lens on Gender and Ecology," Barbican Centre, London, October 5, 2023-January 14, 2024
RE/SISTERS reflects on a range of themes related to eco-feminism, unpacking alternate relationships to the natural world which often resist the logic of capitalism, as well as environmental and gender justice. Fifteen photographs by Woodman—many of which have rarely or never before been seen—explore the figure in relation to the landscape.
L to R: Betty Woodman during her Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, Bellagio Study Center, Bellagio, Italy, 1995. Woodman Family Foundation Archives / Installation view: “Distant Conversations: Ella Walker and Betty Woodman,” Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH, 2023. Photo(s) by Morgan Karanasios, Courtesy of the Currier Museum of Art. Artwork by Betty Woodman © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / Katarina Jerinic and Lorenzo Fusi in conversation, Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH, September 28, 2023.
Betty Woodman during her Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, Bellagio Study Center, Bellagio, Italy, 1995. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
THIS THURSDAY "Italian Connections: Ella Walker and Betty Woodman," September 28, 6-7pm, Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH
Join us this THURSDAY for Italian Inspirations - a free program celebrating the ongoing exhibition, “Distant Conversations: Ella Walker and Betty Woodman,” on view now through October 22. Katarina Jerinic, Collections Curator at The Woodman Family Foundation, will offer deeper insight into how Betty Woodman’s time in Italy influenced her singular approach to ceramic sculpture, paired with a presentation from the Currier’s Chief Curator Lorenzo Fusi highlighting the influence of Italian fresco on Ella Walker’s work.
L to R: Images 1-2: "La RATP invite la Fondation Henri-Cartier Bresson" campaign, Hôtel de Ville station, Paris, France, 2023. Images Courtesy Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation.
"La RATP invite la Fondation Henri-Cartier Bresson" campaign, Hôtel de Ville station, Paris, France, 2023. Image Courtesy Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation.
Francesca Woodman included in Henri Cartier-Bresson Foudation RATP campaign, Hôtel de Ville station, Paris, France, 2023
The Henri-Cartier Bresson Foundation celebrates its 20th anniversary with a campaign of posters in various Paris metro stations highlighting the 70 exhibitions presented since its inception. An image from Francesca Woodman’s 2016 exhibition is currently on view in the Hôtel de Ville station. 
Francesca Woodman. “Untitled,” Antella, Italy, c. 1977-78. 4 x 3 7/8 in. Gelatin silver print / Images 2-5: Installation views from “The Rose,” Lumber Room, Portland, OR, 2023. Courtesy the lumber room. Photo: Mario Galluci. © Woodman Family Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Francesca Woodman. “Untitled,” Antella, Italy, c. 1977-78. 4 x 3 7/8 in. Gelatin silver print.
NOW OPEN Francesca Woodman in "The Rose," Lumber Room, Portland, OR, July 29-October 28, 2023
Curated by Justine Kurland, this exhibition brings together 44 artists whose works resonate with Jay DeFeo’s cumulative use of materials, including Wangechi Mutu, Hannah Wilke, Moyra Davey, K8 Hardy, Joiri Minaya, Lee Bontecou, and Ruth Asawa, among others. Conceived by Kurland as an homage to DeFeo’s monumental sculptural painting “The Rose” (1958-66), the assembled works on view together from an exhibition as collage.
L to R: Betty Woodman. “Courtyard: Pontormo,” 2016. 110 x 84 x 10 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, acrylic paint, and canvas / Images 2-3: Spreads from “Betty Woodman: New York/Florence.” Purple Magazine, Fall/Winter, 2017 / Betty Woodman. “Courtyard: Van Gogh,” 2016. 96 x 84 x 10 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, acrylic paint, and canvas.
Betty Woodman. “Courtyard: Pontormo,” 2016. 110 x 84 x 10 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, acrylic paint, and canvas.
Betty Woodman interview with Selva Barni, "Purple Magazine," Fall/Winter, 2017: READING ROOM
READING ROOM highlights past essays, reviews and interviews about Betty Woodman, Francesca Woodman, and George Woodman that provided new insights and lenses through which to understand their work. In this interview with Selva Barni, published in "Purple Magazine" in 2017, Betty Woodman talks about taking chances in her work and life, her relationship to feminism, her shift from potter to sculptor, and much more.