From the Archives

In December of 1963, George Woodman opened an exhibition of his recent paintings at the Henderson Gallery at University of Colorado, Boulder, where he also taught painting and philosophy of art. These paintings—made in 1962 and 1963—moved away from the loose abstraction he had previously applied to painting the landscape and towards an approach that recalled maps and aerial views.

Throughout her career, Betty Woodman embraced the possibilities that different kilns and firing techniques offered, adapting her approach to the materials available in the diverse places where she lived and worked.

In the spring of 1981, Betty Woodman and Cynthia Carlson started planning for “An Interior Exchanged,” an environmental collaboration presented in ARTISANSPACE at the Fashion Institute of Technology in 1982.

Archives Intern Shauna Fitzgerald shares some thoughts on her experience in the WFF Archives in the Fall of 2024.

In 1972, Francesca Woodman received her first camera, a 6x6 twin-lens reflex Yashica Mat-124G, from her father, George Woodman.

October is American Archives Month and we are celebrating by looking at some of the tools of the trade used by George Woodman and Betty Woodman in our collection.

Sixty years ago, before they had traveled much of the world together, the Woodman family visited the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

Happy 71st anniversary to Betty Woodman and George Woodman, who were married on this day in 1953.

As the solstice today marks the official beginning of summer, we are reminded of the Woodmans’ extensive travels around the world and their months immersed in global artistic influences.

Happy birthday to Betty Woodman—a garden enthusiast and artist who ingeniously experimented with her lifelong muse, the vase, and its multitude of sculptural possibilities.

Happy birthday to George Woodman—lover of color, pattern, and setting the stage—who was born on this day in 1932 in Concord, New Hampshire.

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.