FRANCESCA WOODMAN (Denver, Colorado, 1958-New... Lot 36

FRANCESCA WOODMAN (Denver, Colorado, 1958-New York, 1981) "Self portrait", N3017.1. New York, 1979-80. Gelatin silver print. Later printed by Igor Bakht, stamp on verso. Signed by George and Betty Woodman, annotated "I B" "N3017.1" in pencil. PE/FW credit stamp on verso. Provenance: Foster Glasgow private collection. Measurements: 13.7 x 13.7 cm (image); 26 x 21 cm (paper). This photograph, in which Francesca Woodman is shown foreshortened and quartered, belongs to the last stage of the artist's short life. At the time, she was living in New York. Woodman had spent the summer of 1979 in Stanwood, Washington to visit her partner, Benjamin Moore. It was there that she created a photographic series on domestic subjects. When she returned to New York, she tried to make her work known and managed to have exhibitions at the Daniel Wolf Gallery. In the advertising and fashion industry she discovered the work of Deborah Turbeville, who was characterized by placing models in gothic-melodramatic settings, such as in desolate or dark buildings or corridors. Woodman imbibed this style, which she then reflected in her future photographs. In the summer of 1980 he experimented with his own body in order to deal with themes of something higher, according to the letter he wrote to his friend Suzanne Santoro, who lived in Rome. At this time, his artistic creation became more meticulous and he elaborated more methodically the composition, starting from previously created sketches, to work out the narrative of his images. Although she put a lot of effort into her artistic work, she was never convinced of it. What really drove her to suicide was a mediocre public response to her photography and a broken romance. Her father suggested that the reason for the suicide was a failed application for funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. She was too far ahead of her time. All this caused Francesca Woodman to fall into a depression and finally, a few days after launching her book, on January 19, 1981, she decided to take her own life at the age of only 22, jumping out of a loft window on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York. Francesca Woodman was an American photographer known for her intimate black and white self-portraits. She graduated from Rhode Island School of Design, the University of Fine Arts in Providence. Her photography is characterized primarily by the use of a single model, usually nude. It was usually her, but in various photographs she portrayed several of her friends. The body captured by the camera was usually in motion, due to long exposure times, or the image was not sharp. He also used other techniques, such as masking himself or trying to blend in with the objects or the environment itself. She was born into a family of artists. From an early age, together with her brother Charles Woodman, she was introduced to the art world by her parents, George Woodman and Betty Woodman, who were both visual artists. Today, they manage an archive of more than 800 images of their daughter, 120 of which have been exhibited or published. She belongs to the generation of avant-garde women of the 1970s who claimed their contribution and vision of the world, which also includes activist artists such as Cindy Sherman, Martha Rosler or Ana Mendieta.