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.
Francesca Woodman. “Splatter Paint,” Rome, Italy, 1977-78. 4 5/8 x 4 5/8 in.
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: Betty Woodman with Joyce Kozloff, 1981. Photo by Sylvia Plachy / 2-4: Betty Woodman, collaboration with Joyce Kozloff. “Cups," (3 of 12), 1980. 5 in. diameter / "Chrysanthemum Vase," 1980. 14 in / “Purple Toucan Pitcher,” 1980. 17 in. All glazed earthenware / 5-7: Betty Woodman, collaboration with Cynthia Carlson. Installation views, "An Interior Exchanged,” ArtisanSpace, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, 1982. Dimensions variable. All paint and glazed ceramic.
Betty Woodman with Joyce Kozloff, 1981. Photo by Sylvia Plachy
Betty Woodman, collaborations with Joyce Kozloff and Cynthia Carlson: From the Archives...
In the early 1980s, as Betty Woodman moved into a New York City loft with her husband, George Woodman, and began to shift her functional practice towards ceramic sculpture, she became friends with many artists deeply involved with the Pattern and Decoration movement. She collaborated with two of them: Joyce Kozloff and Cynthia Carlson. With Kozloff, Woodman made ceramic forms—whether cups and saucers, pitchers or trays—which Kozloff then decorated with rich patterns inspired by Islamic tiles and motifs. The resulting works, which dissolve the line between craft and art, were shown in exhibitions at Tibor de Nagy Gallery and the Queens Museum in 1981.
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,” Italy, 1978. 4 9/16 x 4 9/16 in. Gelatin silver print / “Untitled,” Italy, 1978. 4 5/8 x 4 5/8 in. Gelatin silver print.
Francesca Woodman. Contact sheet, Italy, c. 1978. 10 x 8 in. Gelatin silver print.
"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.
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Francesca Woodman. "Untitled," Boulder, Colorado, c. 1975. 7 1/8 x 7 3/16 in. Gelatin silver print.
Francesca Woodman. "Untitled," Boulder, Colorado, c. 1975. 7 1/8 x 7 3/16 in. Gelatin silver print.
"Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories" featured in 4Columns Magazine, November 12, 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.
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L to R: All images by Francesca Woodman. “Untitled," Florence, Italy, c. 1976. 4 5/8 x 4 3/4 in. Gelatin silver print / “Untitled," Florence, Italy, c. 1976. 4 5/8 x 4 5/8 in. Gelatin silver print / “Untitled,” Florence, Italy, c. 1976. 5 3/16 x 5 3/16 in. Gelatin silver print / Images 4-7: “Untitled,” made at La Specola, Florence, Italy, c. 1971.
Francesca Woodman. “Untitled," Florence, Italy, c. 1976. 4 5/8 x 4 3/4 in. Gelatin silver print.
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.
L to R: Cover and pages from “The Further Adventures of Pinocchio,” published in 2004. Photographs by George Woodman. Poetry by Edwin Frank / Pinocchio in the Woodman Family Foundation archives, 2021.
L to R: Cover of “The Further Adventures of Pinocchio,” published in 2004. Photographs by George Woodman. Poetry by Edwin Frank
A collaborative poem and picture tale by George Woodman and Edwin Frank, "The Further Adventures of Pinocchio," 2004: From the Archives...
Around 2003, George Woodman began incorporating a green wooden Pinocchio into the assemblages of toys, props and images he used to construct his photographs. Pinocchio is an iconic figure in Italian literature and culture, popularized by the classic children’s novel “The Adventures of Pinocchio,” written by Florentine author Carlo Collodi in the late 19th century. Woodman was interested in Pinocchio as the protagonist in his own picture stories.
L to R: Francesca Woodman in XIBT Magazine, November 2021.
Francesca Woodman in XIBT Magazine, November 2021.
"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 by Alex Yudzon.
NOW OPEN "Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories" at Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, November 2-December 23, 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.
L to R: Our archives intern Molly McBride Jacobson digs into unsorted family photographs from our archives, 2021.
Our archives intern Molly McBride Jacobson digs into unsorted family photographs from our archives, 2021.
Our archives intern Molly McBride Jacobson digs into unsorted family photographs from our archives: From the Archives...
The Woodman Family Foundation archives include boxes and boxes of family photographs, spanning the early days George and Betty spent in Albuquerque where they welcomed their son Charlie into the world; to their move to a modernist home in Boulder—the site of many birthday parties, pottery sales, impromptu installations of paintings and Francesca’s earliest experiments with “dress up;” until just a few years ago enjoying breakfast with their grandson Alexander in both New York and Antella.
Francesca Woodman. Contact sheet, Italy, c. 1977-78. 8 x 10 in. Gelatin silver print.
Francesca Woodman. Contact sheet, Italy, c. 1977-78. 8 x 10 in. Gelatin silver print.
"Francesca Woodman: Alternate Stories" on Yale Radio with Lissa McClure and Brainard Carey
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.
Betty Woodman. "Alessandro’s Rooms," 2011. 102.5 x 354.5 x 15.75 in. Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, acrylic paint, canvas.
Betty Woodman in "The Flames: The Age of Ceramics" at Musee d'Art Moderne de Paris, Paris, France, October 15, 2021-February 6, 2022
"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.
L to R: Entrance to the Woodman family’s farmhouse adorned with a Pillow Pitcher by Betty atop a wall of George’s “sgraffito,” 2017 / View of the olive groves from Betty’s studio, 2004 / Betty cutting well-tended roses growing against the wall next to her studio, 2008 / Betty making flower arrangements with roses, dahlias and gerbera daisies from her garden, 2006 / Betty putting fresh flowers in a group of her “Vase and Stand” works, 1984 / Betty, a young family friend, and Francesca, c. late 1960s / Table set for dinner, 2016, photo by Brigid McCaffrey / Generous bowls and baskets full of figs, plums, peaches, grapes, and tomatoes, 2016 / Betty, Charlie and Francesca cooking together, c. early 1970s / George at his studio door, 2006 / A view out from the same door, 2008 / Francesca and Betty holding their bunnies, c. 1968 / Charlie on his motorino, c. late 1960s / Betty and friend with Betty’s triptych “June in Italy” (2001), c. 2001 / George with his sculpture, c. early 1970s / he Woodman family’s patio with potted geraniums and the olive grove in view, c. 1990s / Morning glories climbing George’s “sgrafitto” wall, c. 1990s.
L to R: Entrance to the Woodman family’s farmhouse adorned with a Pillow Pitcher by Betty atop a wall of George’s “sgraffito,” 2017 / George with his sculpture, c. early 1970s / Betty, Charlie and Francesca cooking together, c. early 1970s / Betty cutting well-tended roses growing against the wall next to her studio, 2008.
AUGUST IN ANTELLA
Beginning in the summer of 1968, the Woodman Family spent every summer at their stone farmhouse in Antella, Italy, just outside of Florence. As children, Charlie and Francesca joined their parents and later visited on their own, soaking in Italian culture and influences. Betty and George made some of their most important artistic breakthroughs there—a place George once described as "an artist residency for two.” All summer long, their garden produced abundant food and flowers—the tomatoes were particularly good in August, happily shared with frequent visitors.