All artworks by Betty Woodman. “Kimono Vases ‘October’,” 1990. 30 3/4 x 43 x 9 1/2 in / “Still Life Vase #9,” 1990. 31 1/2 x 30 x 8 in / Images 3-5: “Double Vase Diptych,” 1996. 30 x 43 1/2 x 9 in / Images 6-8: “Two Women Vase Diptych,” 1996. 24 x 44 x 6 in / “Beccafumi Vase Triptych,” 1996. 33 1/2 x 74 1/2 x 10 1/2 in / “Balustrade Relief Vase 97-01,” 1997. 72 x 53 x 8 3/4 in. All artworks glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, and paint. Images 1, 2 & 10: Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery. Photo: Phoebe d’Heurle.
Betty Woodman. “Kimono Vases ‘October’,” 1990. 30 3/4 x 43 x 9 1/2 in. Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery. Photo: Phoebe d'Heurle.
Betty Woodman reviews from the 1990s: "Betty Woodman: Conversations on the Shore, Works from the 1990s," David Kordansky Gallery, New York, October 29-December 17, 2022
The 1990s was a career-defining period for Betty Woodman in which her work in ceramic declared itself as painting and sculpture through her radical formal innovations. This shift was affirmed by contemporary art critics, who increasingly discussed her work in relation to sculpture and painting of the day.
L to R: All artworks Betty Woodman. "House of the South," 1994-1996. 159 x 246 x 9 1/2 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, and paint / Images 1-2: Installation view, "Betty Woodman," Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1996 / Images 3: Installation view, "Betty Woodman,” Musée d’Art Contemporain, Dunkerque, France, 1997 / Images 4-5: Installation view, “Betty Woodman,” Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal, 1997 / Image 6: Installation view, “The Art of Betty Woodman,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, 2006. Photo: Eli Ping / Image 7: Installation view, "Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art," Hayward Gallery, London, England, 2022. Photo: Mark Blower. Courtesy of the Hayward Gallery. Images 1-6: Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
Installation view, "Betty Woodman," Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1996. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
Betty Woodman's "House of the South," 1994-1996 in "Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art," Hayward Gallery, October 26, 2022-January 8, 2023
Betty Woodman’s touring exhibition which began at the Stedelijk in 1996 also included another major work: “House of the South” (1994-1996). Measuring more than 13 feet high by more than 20 feet wide, this ambitious frieze evolved from Woodman’s “Balustrade Relief Vase” series begun earlier in the decade, here incorporating multiple three-dimensional vases atop ceramic shelves, surrounded by flat ceramic relief elements implying architecture, plants and other vessels.
L to R: All artworks by Betty Woodman. Images 1, 3, 5: Installation view, "Betty Woodman," Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1996. Woodman Family Foundation Archives / Image 2: “Women at the Fountain,” 1992. 86 x 144 x 57 in. Collection of the Flemish Community, Belgium / Image 4: “Conversations on the Shore,” 1994. 84 x 160 x 41 in / Image 6: “Sala da Pranzo,” 1995. 25 1/4 x 32 x 10 in. All artworks glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, and paint / Image 7: Installation view, "Betty Woodman,” Musée d’Art Contemporain, Dunkerque, France, 1997. Images 4 & 6: Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery. Photo: Phoebe d’Heurle.
Installation view, "Betty Woodman," Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1996. Woodman Family Foundation Archives.
"Betty Woodman," Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1996: "Betty Woodman: Conversations on the Shore, Works from the 1990s," David Kordansky Gallery, New York
In September of 1996, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam opened “Betty Woodman,” a major exhibition of the artist’s work and her largest in Europe at that point. The works on view included two installations—“Women at the Fountain” (1992) and “Conversations on the Shore” (1994)—in which Woodman for the first time combined free-standing vases on the floor with an array of wall-mounted vases and flat ceramic elements.
L to R: All artworks by Betty Woodman. “Balustrade Relief Vase #52,” 1992. 82 x 45 x 10 in / “Athens,” 1991. 35 1/2 x 69 x 10 in / “Seashore,” 1998. 26 x 59 x 9 in. All artworks glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer and paint. All images Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery. Photo: Phoebe d’Heurle.
Betty Woodman. “Balustrade Relief Vase #52,” 1992. 82 x 45 x 10 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer and paint. Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery. Photo: Phoebe d’Heurle.
Opening this week! "Betty Woodman: Conversations on the Shore, Works from the 1990s," David Kordansky Gallery, New York, October 29-December 17, 2022
This major solo exhibition—the first of the artist’s work in New York in six years—brings together a group of ceramic sculptures from a critical and career-defining period in Woodman’s practice. Anchored by the installation “Conversations on the Shore” (1994)—which was last shown in the late 1990s as part of an exhibition tour which originated at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam—the works on view include a number of wall-mounted and free-standing sculptures, each engaged in a range of conversations about materials, history, function, architecture, sculpture and painting.
L to R: All artworks by George Woodman. “Three Views of Eleonora,” 2011. 18 x 24 in / “A Geometric Investigation II,” 2009. 24 x 20 in / “Variation on Vermeer,” 2010. 24 x 20 in / “Vermeer and Sleeping Eleonora,” 2010. 59 x 41 1/2 in / George Woodman with Eleonora Picheca, 2011. Courtesy Eleonora Picheca. All gelatin silver prints.
George Woodman. “Three Views of Eleonora,” 2011. 18 x 24 in. Gelatin silver print.
George Woodman's photographs of model Eleonora Picheca, 2008-2012
Thanks to Eleonora for sharing a photo of her and George laughing together (last slide). It reminded us of some of the beautiful photographs George took of her over the years when she sat for him in Italy (2008-2012).
L to R: Charles Woodman, Venice, Italy, 1966 / Charles Woodman and Francesca Woodman, Venice, Italy, 1966 / Betty Woodman and Charles Woodman, Venice, Italy, 1966.
Charles Woodman, Venice, Italy, 1966.
The Woodmans in Venice, Italy, 1966: From the Archives...
As this year’s Venice Biennale, “The Milk of Dreams,” nears its end, we’re reminded that over many decades Betty and George Woodman traveled to Venice to take in the Biennale. Their trip in 1966—pictured here—when the family spent the year in Italy, was likely Charlie and Francesca’s first of many visits there, to explore both the exhibition and this captivating city.
L to R: All artworks and artist book by Francesca Woodman. Spread from "Some Disordered Interior Geometries," 1980. Found notebook with 16 gelatin silver prints, 24 pages + cover. 9 x 6 1/2 in. Included in the exhibition: First edition published by Synapse Press, 1981. "Almost a square," Providence, Rhode Island, 1977. 4 11/16 x 4 15/16 in. Gelatin silver print / “angels,” Rome, Italy, 1977-78. 3 3/4 x 3 3/4 in. Gelatin silver print.
Spread from "Some Disordered Interior Geometries," 1980. Found notebook with 16 gelatin silver prints, 24 pages + cover. 9 x 6 1/2 in.
Francesca Woodman in "Books Revisited," Center for Book Arts, New York, October 7-December 10, 2022
Each of the works in this exhibition use existing books as raw material, examining ways that narrative, history and knowledge occupy space within and beyond the material and conceptual boundaries of books. Francesca Woodman created a number of artist’s books, attaching her photographs and writings into found books, often from Italy.
L to R: George Woodman, c. 1970s / George Woodman. “Loie with Sculpture as Herself,” 2007. Gelatin silver print / Painting by George Woodman, c. 1970s. Courtesy Remo Brindisi House Museum / George Woodman, c. 2010s.
George Woodman on view in collection of Remo Brindisi House Museum, Lido Di Spina, Italy
George Woodman on view in this collection of Remo Brindisi House Museum, Lido Di Spina, Italy.
Artworks L to R: George Woodman. “Beauty is Truth,” 1976. 52 x 52 in. Acrylic on canvas / Francesca Woodman. “Charlie the Model #10,” Providence, Rhode Island, 1976-77. 5 5/16 x 5 3/8 in. Vintage gelatin silver print / Betty Woodman. “Rain Forest Pillow Pitcher,” c. 1980s. 20 x 24 x 16 in. Glazed earthenware. Courtesy RISD Museum.
George Woodman. “Beauty is Truth,” 1976. 52 x 52 in. Acrylic on canvas.
RISD Museum Acquisitions
We’re thrilled that RISD Museum has acquired a group of important works by Betty, Francesca, and George Woodman from the Foundation’s holdings through a combination of museum funds and Foundation gifts. RISD occupies a singular place of importance for the Woodman family, from Francesca’s formative years there as a young artist and student to Betty’s 2005 solo exhibition at the museum and RISD Honorary Degree in 2009.
L to R: All artworks by Francesca Woodman. “Untitled,” New York, 1979-80. 4 15/16 x 3 15/16 in / Vintage fox fur from Francesca Woodman’s archives / “Untitled,” New York, 1979-80. 7 1/2 x 4 3/4 in / “Untitled,” New York, 1979. 5 13/16 x 5 13/16 in / “Untitled (from Swan Song series),” Providence, Rhode Island, 1978. 34 1/2 x 40 1/2 in / “Untitled,” Providence, Rhode Island, 1976. 5 3/4 x 5 3/4 in / “Untitled,” Providence, Rhode Island, 1976. 5 7/8 x 5 7/8 in.
Francesca Woodman. “Untitled,” New York, 1979-80. 4 15/16 x 3 15/16 in. Gelatin silver print.
Vintage fox fur from Francesca Woodman's archives used in her work, 1976-80: From the Archives...
The Foundation’s archives include many of the dresses, shoes, scarves, gloves and other clothing that Francesca Woodman used in her photographs and in her daily life. This fox fur, probably picked up at a vintage shop or flea market like much that she wore, makes an appearance in many of her photographs.
L to R: Betty Woodman, Italy, c. 1965-66 / Betty Woodman, Charles Woodman, and Francesca Woodman, Italy, c. 1960s / Charles Woodman and friend, Italy, c. 1966 / Betty Woodman and friends, Italy, c. 1966 / Betty Woodman, Francesca Woodman, and friend, Antella, Italy, c. 1968 / Betty Woodman and friends, Antella, Italy, c. 1980 / Betty Woodman, Antella, Italy, c. 1995 / George Woodman, Antella, Italy, c. 1995 / Betty Woodman, George Woodman, and friends, Antella, Italy, c. 1995.
Betty Woodman, Italy, c. 1965-66.
Dining al fresco with the Woodman family, c. 1960s-1995: From the Archives...
The Woodman family spent many summer days and evenings dining al fresco in Italy with family and friends throughout the years. Most of these snapshots were taken by George, who often had his camera in hand and documented their family life.
L to R: Betty Woodman, Charles Woodman, and Francesca Woodman, 1959 / George Woodman and Francesca Woodman, 1964 / Francesca Woodman, 1964 / 4-5: Charles Woodman, 1962 / Betty Woodman, 1959.
Betty Woodman, Charles Woodman, and Francesca Woodman, 1959
Summer with the Woodman family, 1959-1964: STAFF PICKS
Emma Horning is a Library and Information Science graduate student at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. As the Foundation’s Archives Intern, she has been digitizing photographic slides and prints in the collection and building a database to manage these archival materials: Summer brings us bountiful sun-drenched days. As a family, the Woodmans spent the summer months soaking in the potential the season brings.