Francesca Woodman Explained

Francesca Woodman
Birth Name:Francesca Stern Woodman
Birth Date:3 April 1958
Birth Place:Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Death Place:New York City, U.S.
Education:Boulder High School
Alma Mater:Rhode Island School of Design
Occupation:Photographer
Mother:Betty Woodman
Father:George Woodman

Francesca Stern Woodman (April 3, 1958 – January 19, 1981) was an American photographer best known for her black and white pictures featuring either herself or female models.

Many of her photographs show women, naked or clothed, blurred (due to movement and long exposure times), merging with their surroundings, or whose faces are obscured.

Her work continues to be the subject of much positive critical attention, years after her death at the age of 22, in 1981.

Life

Woodman was born in Denver, Colorado, to artists George Woodman and Betty Woodman (née Abrahams).[1] Her mother was Jewish and her father was from a Protestant background.[2] Her older brother, Charles, later became an associate professor of electronic art.[3]

Woodman took her first self-portrait at age thirteen and continued photographing herself until she died.[4] She attended public school in Boulder, Colorado, between 1963 and 1971, except for second grade, which she attended in Italy, where the family spent many summers between school years. She began high school in 1972 at Abbot Academy, a private Massachusetts boarding school. There, she began to develop her photographic skills and became interested in the art form. Abbot Academy merged with Phillips Academy in 1973; Woodman graduated from the public Boulder High School in 1975.[1] Through 1975, she spent summers with her family in Italy[1] in the Florentine countryside, where the family lived on an old farm.[5]

Beginning in 1975, Woodman attended the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence, Rhode Island. She studied in Rome between 1977 and 1978 in a RISD honors program. Because she spoke fluent Italian, she was able to befriend Italian intellectuals and artists. She returned to Rhode Island in late 1978 to graduate from RISD.[1]

Woodman moved to New York City in 1979. After spending the summer of 1979 in Stanwood, Washington visiting her boyfriend at Pilchuck Glass School, she returned to New York "to make a career in photography." She sent portfolios of her work to fashion photographers, but "her solicitations did not lead anywhere". In the summer of 1980, she was an artist-in-residence at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire.[1]

In late 1980, Woodman became depressed owing to the failure of her work to attract attention and because of a broken relationship.[6] She survived a suicide attempt in the autumn of 1980, after which she lived with her parents in Manhattan.[7]

Death

On January 19, 1981, Woodman died by suicide at age 22 by jumping out of a loft window of a building on the East Side of New York City.[1] An acquaintance wrote, "Things had been bad, there had been therapy, things had gotten better, guard had been let down". Her father has suggested that Woodman's suicide was related to an unsuccessful application for funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.[8] A lackluster response to her photography and a failed relationship had pushed her into the deep depression.[9]

Works

Photographs, 1972–1980

Although Woodman used different cameras and film formats during her career, most of her photographs were taken with medium format cameras producing by -inch (6x6 cm) square negatives. Woodman created at least 10,000 negatives, which her parents kept.[10] Woodman's estate, which was managed by Woodman's parents,[11] consists of over 800 prints,[1] of which only around 120 images had been published or exhibited as of 2006. Most of Woodman's prints are 8inchesby10inchesin (byin) or smaller, which "works to produce an intimate experience between viewer and photograph".[12]

Many of Woodman's images are untitled and are known only by a location and date. She often took photographs indoors, finding abandoned and derelict spaces in which to create her photographic tableaux.[13]

Videos, 1975–1978

At RISD, Woodman borrowed a video camera and VTR and created videotapes related to her photographs in which she "methodically whitewashes her own naked body, for instance, or compares her torso to images of classical statuary."[14] Some of these videos were displayed at the Helsinki City Art Museum in Finland and the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation in Miami in 2005;[14] the Tate Modern in London in 2007–2008;[15] and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2011.

Some Disordered Interior Geometries (1981 book)

Woodman created a number of artist's books, such as Portrait of a Reputation, Quaderno dei Dettati e dei Temi (Notebook of Dictations and Compositions), Quaderno (also known as Quaderno Raffaello), Portraits Friends Equasions, and Angels, Calendar Notebook.[16] However, the only artist's book containing Woodman's photographs that was published during her lifetime was Some Disordered Interior Geometries.[17] Released in January 1981 shortly before Woodman's death, it is 24 pages in length and is based upon selected pages from an Italian geometry exercise book. On the pages, Woodman had attached 16 photographs and had added handwriting and white correction fluid. A study of the book notes that Woodman occasionally re-drew a form "for emphasis or delight."[18] A reproduction of the book's original spreads shows purple-pink covers, pages which vary slightly in color, and traces of pink on several pages. Although the published version of the book has purple-pink covers, the interior pages are printed using only black, white, and shades of gray.[17]

In 1999, a critic was of the opinion that Some Disordered Interior Geometries was "a distinctively bizarre book… a seemingly deranged miasma of mathematical formulae, photographs of herself and scrawled, snaking, handwritten notes."[19] An acquaintance of Woodman wrote in 2000 that it "was a very peculiar little book indeed," with "a strangely ironic distance between the soft intimacy of the bodies in the photographs and the angularity of the geometric rules that covered the pages."[20] A 2006 essay described the book as "a three-way game that plays the text and illustrations for an introduction to Euclid against Woodman's own text and diagrams, as well as the 'geometry' of her formal compositions," while a 2008 article found the book "poetic and humorous, analytical and reflexive."[21] and a 2010 review stated of the book that "we are the richer for it."[23] Claire Raymond argues that in Some Disordered Interior Geometries Woodman elliptically confronts the problem of the female artist's struggle to claim authority as an artist: by using a student textbook as her signal artist's book (the only book published during Woodman's lifetime) Woodman exposes the difficulty of the female artist moving beyond the role of neophyte/student.[24]

Posthumous recognition

Publications

Besides catalogues of her solo exhibitions, notable books by and about Woodman include:

Books of work by Woodman

Books about Woodman

Exhibitions

Woodman had only a few exhibitions during her life, some of which have been described as "exhibitions in alternative spaces in New York and Rome."[30] There were no known group or solo exhibitions of her work between 1981 and 1985, but numerous exhibitions each year since then.[31] Among her major solo exhibitions were:

The films The Fancy and The Woodmans

In 2000, an experimental video The Fancy, by Elisabeth Subrin, examined Woodman's life and work, "pos[ing] questions about biographical form, history and fantasy, female subjectivity, and issues of authorship and intellectual property."[43] [44] Reviewers noted that the video juxtaposes "formalism, biography, and psychoanalysis"[45] and "hints at conspiracy, calling attention to the Woodman family's unwillingness to make the bulk of her body of photography available…."[46]

A feature-length documentary The Woodmans, was released theatrically by Lorber Films[47] [48] on the thirtieth anniversary of her death, 18 January 2011. The director "had unrestricted access to all of Francesca’s photographs, private diaries, and experimental videos".[49] Although the film won "Best New York Documentary" at the Tribeca Film Festival, Woodman's parents decided not to attend the premiere.[50] Reactions to the film have been largely favorable. On the film review site Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 17 critics' reviews were positive, and 83% of 793 user ratings were positive.[51] It was broadcast on the PBS series Independent Lens on December 22, 2011.[49] [52]

Popular opinion

Public opinion has generally been favorable towards Woodman's work. At the 1998 exhibition in Paris, many people had "strong reactions" to her "interesting" photographs.[6] A number of people have found Woodman's individual photos (for example "Self-portrait at 13"[53]) or her photography in general[54] inspirational.

Influences

Among other factors, critics and historians have written that Woodman was influenced by the following literary genre, myth, artistic movement, and photographers:

References

Works cited

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Denver Post. MacMillan, Kyle. Francesca Woodman's haunting vision. December 14, 2006. April 25, 2018.
  2. News: 'Francesca Woodman' at Guggenheim Museum . The New York Times . Ken . Johnson . March 15, 2012.
  3. http://www.shirley-jonesgallery.com/exhibit8.html Video works Charles Woodman, photographs Francesca Woodman, May 6 – June 16, 2005.
  4. Web site: Francesca Woodman - 50 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy. www.artsy.net. en. 2018-04-05.
  5. Web site: Moderna Museet. Francesca Woodman: On being an angel. Tellgren, Anna. April 25, 2018. 2016. 9–16.
  6. Riding, Alan. Pictures, perhaps, of her despair: a young photographer's work may or may not hold clues to her suicide. The New York Times, 1998-05-17.
  7. Gumport, Elizabeth. The Long Exposure of Francesca Woodman. New York Review of Books. January 24, 2011. December 29, 2016.
  8. Web site: Hoberman, J.. Photographer Francesca Woodman Gets Her Close-Up in a Haunting Family Study. Village Voice . January 19, 2011. November 16, 2011.
  9. Web site: Francesca Woodman artnet. www.artnet.com. 2020-03-04.
  10. Wood, Gaby. The lady vanishes. The Observer, 1999 July 25.
  11. News: Loos, Ted. December 1, 2011 . Sharing a Guarded Legacy . The New York Times . December 21, 2012.
  12. Simon, Jane. 10.1016/j.emospa.2010.01.013 . An intimate mode of looking: Francesca Woodman's photographs . Emotion, Space and Society . 3 . 28–59 . 2010.
  13. Book: Raymond, Claire. 2017-04-21. Women Photographers and Feminist Aesthetics. 10.4324/9781315628912. 9781315628912.
  14. Web site: Maximum Miami. Robinson, Walter. ArtNet Magazine. December 12, 2005. December 10, 2016.
  15. http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/CollectionDisplays?venueid=2&roomid=4215&page=2 Francesca Woodman (Room 8).
  16. Riches, Harriet. Disappearing Act: Francesca Woodman's Portrait of a Reputation. Oxford Art Journal 2004;27(1):95–113.
  17. Book: Woodman, Francesca . Some disordered interior geometries . Philadelphia. Synapse Press . 1981 . 11308833 .
  18. https://www1.essex.ac.uk/arthistory/research/pdfs/rebus/rebus_issue_2.pdf Dunhill, Alison. Dialogues with Diagrams.
  19. https://web.archive.org/web/20101206020328/http://www.newstatesman.com/199908230027.htm Henshall, John. Fatal attraction.
  20. Davison, Peter. Girl, seeming to disappear. Atlantic Monthly, 2000 May;285(5):108–111.
  21. Somerville, Kris . 10.1353/mis.2010.0043 . Clues to a Lost Woman: The Photography of Francesca Woodman . The Missouri Review . 33 . 3 . 79–91 . 2010. 162214059 .
  22. A 2010 article on Woodman called the book "original and enigmatic,"[21]
  23. Spence, Rachel. Francesca Woodman, Palazzo della Ragione, Milan. Financial Times, 2010-08-02. Accessed 2011-11-15.
  24. Book: Francesca Woodman's dark gaze : the diazotypes and other late works. Raymond, Claire. 2016. Routledge. 9781472457134. 1082195815.
  25. Book: Woodman, Francesca . Francesca Woodman: On Being an Angel . Silvana . Milan . 2011 . 978-88-366-2117-0 .
  26. International Center of Photography Store. Francesca Woodman's Notebook. Accessed 2011-11-16.
  27. Web site: Dunhill, Alison. Alison Dunhill . Quaderno Raffaello: Anticipation and Delight . 2012 .
  28. Book: Raymond, Claire . Francesca Woodman and the Kantian sublime . Ashgate . Farnham, Surrey and Burlington, VT . 2010 . 978-0-7546-6344-7 .
  29. Book: Raymond, Claire . Francesca Woodman's Dark Gaze . Ashgate . Farnham, Surrey and Burlington, VT . 2016 . 978-14-724-5712-7 .
  30. Francesca Woodman Reconsidered: A Conversation with George Baker, Ann Daly, Nancy Davenport, Laura Larson, and Margaret Sundell. Art Journal. 2003. 62. 52–67. 2. 3558506. Baker, George . Daly, Ann . Davenport, Nancy . Larson, Laura . Sundell, Margaret . 10.1080/00043249.2003.10792158 . 192135554 .
  31. Web site: Francesca Woodman. www.nationalgalleries.org.
  32. Six invitation postcards by Francesca Woodman, Libreria Maldoror, Rome, Italy, 1978 (Woodman Family Foundation website).
  33. Book: Oliva, Achille Bonito . Francesca Woodman: Providence, Roma, New York . Roma. Castelvecchi arte . 2000 . 88-8210-192-4 . 45108542.
  34. Book: Tejeda, Isabel . Francesca Woodman: Retrospectiva = Retrospective . Espacio AV . Murcia, Spain . 2009 . 978-84-96898-42-4.
  35. News: Pelloso, Giovanni . 2010-07-13 . I ritratti e i misteri di Francesca Woodman . Corriere della Sera . 2011-11-07 . it .
  36. Ho, Alexander . November 4, 2011 . Retrospective: Looking Back on Francesca Woodman's Prolific Career . Time . 2011-11-07 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111105092949/http://lightbox.time.com/2011/11/04/retrospective-looking-back-on-francesca-woodman%E2%80%99s-prolific-career/ . November 5, 2011 .
  37. News: Francesca Woodman's Foreboding Essence Timeless. Baker, Kenneth . San Francisco Chronicle . 2011-11-12 . 2011-11-12.
  38. News: Francesca Woodman Exhibit Displays Haunting Beauty . Bowman, Cathy . San Francisco Examiner . 2011-11-07 . 2011-11-12 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121011005306/http://www.sfexaminer.com/entertainment/2011/11/francesca-woodman-exhibit-displays-haunting-beauty . 2012-10-11 .
  39. Book: Tellgren, Anna . Francesca Woodman: Retrospectiva = Retrospective . Moderna Museet . Stockholm, Sweden. 2015 . 978-38-63357-50-4.
  40. Web site: Women on the Edge Tie Together a Trio of MCA Denver Shows. Paglia. Michael. 2019-11-20. Westword. 2020-01-04.
  41. Web site: AnOther . 2021-11-01 . Brilliant Things to Do This November . 2022-05-04 . AnOther . en.
  42. Web site: Jansen, Charlotte . March 20, 2024 . Woodman and Cameron: Portraits to Dream In - groundbreaking female photographers a century apart . Guardian . 20 April 2024.
  43. Subrin, Elisabeth. The Fancy (video). Chicago: Video Data Bank (distributor), 2000. OCLC 45301667.
  44. http://www.vdb.org/smackn.acgi$tapedetail?FANCY Video Data Bank page on The Fancy.
  45. Greene, Rachel. Elisabeth Subrin, The Fancy (review). Bomb 2001 Fall;77:22.
  46. Armour, Nicole. Disappearing acts. Film Comment 2000 Nov/Dec;36(6):55-57.
  47. Kino Lorber. The Woodmans. Directed by C. Scott Willis. A Lorber Films Release. 2010. Accessed 2011-11-15.
  48. Web site: The Woodmans (2010). IMDb.
  49. [Independent Television Service]
  50. Messer, Ron. C. Scott Willis Interview THE WOODMANS – 2010 Tribeca Film Festival . Collider.com, 2010-05-10. Accessed 2011-11-15.
  51. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_woodmans/ The Woodmans (2010).
  52. Public Broadcasting Service, Independent Lens §where it won the 2012 Emmy Award for Outstanding Arts & Culture Programming. The Woodmans. Accessed 2011-11-15.
  53. Moakley, Paul. Watch closely: Gigi Giannuzzi on Francesca Woodman. Photo District News, 2003 August.
  54. http://gryphonsfeather.typepad.com/gryphons_feather_studio/2005/10/famous_five_tag.html Gryphon's Feather Studio blog entry, 2005 October 21.
  55. News: Francesca Woodman Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works. The Art Story. 2018-04-05. en-US.
  56. Tutter, Adele . Metamorphosis and the aesthetics of loss: II. Lady of the woods – The transformative lens of Francesca Woodman . 10.1111/j.1745-8315.2011.00457.x . 22212040 . International Journal of Psychoanalysis. 92 . 6 . 1517–1539 . 2011. 205910961 .
  57. Conley, Katharine. A Swimmer Between Two Worlds: Francesca Woodman's Maps of Interior Space. Journal of Surrealism and the Americas 2:2 (2008), 227–252.
  58. Rus, Eva. Surrealism and self-representation in the photography of Francesca Woodman. 49th Parallel: an Interdisciplinary Journal of North American Studies, Spring 2005. Accessed 2014-09-03.
  59. Valtorta, Roberta. Francesca Woodman. Progresso Fotografico, 1979 October;86:10:46-50.
  60. Web site: Portrait of a Reputation. www.risd.edu. en. 2020-03-04.
  61. Web site: Removing Suicide as the Filter for Experiencing Francesca Woodman's Photography. 2019-12-17. Hyperallergic. en-US. 2020-03-08.