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FRANCESCA WOODMAN (American, 1958-1981) ROMA, MAY 1977-AUGUST 1978 signed and inscribed “Dirty To...

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:15,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD
FRANCESCA WOODMAN (American, 1958-1981) ROMA, MAY 1977-AUGUST 1978 signed and inscribed “Dirty To...
FRANCESCA WOODMAN
(American, 1958-1981)
ROMA, MAY 1977-AUGUST 1978
signed and inscribed “Dirty Torso for Jed” in black ink below image on recto
gelatin silver print
image: 79?16 x 73?4 in. (19.2 x 19.7 cm)
paper: 12 x 97?16 in. (30.5 x 24 cm)
May 1977-August 1978
ESTIMATE: $15,000-20,000
LITERATURE
HervÈ ChandËs. ed., FRANCESCA WOODMAN, PARIS, Fondation Cartier
pour l’Art Contemporain, 1998,
p. 108 (illustrated)
Between the months of May 1977 and August 1978, Francesca Woodman spent a year in Rome, studying on an honors program administered through the Rhode Island School of Design. The work she produced there expanded her efforts to integrate herself into the texture of a given space. By often applying mud or dirt to her own body, Woodman became a part of the interior landscape. Seen here in the nude, camouflaged against a wall of chipped paint, she conjures a sensual, intimate moment in a seemingly abandoned place.
In a letter written in 1980 to a friend from Providence, Woodman notes, “It’s funny how while I was living in Italy the culture didn’t affect me that much and now I have all this fascination with the architecture, etc.” (Janus, FRANCESCA WOODMAN, PARIS, Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, 1998, p. 29). Indeed, the subconscious influence of Roman architecture seemed to surface later in her career. Elizabeth Janus has claimed that the work Woodman produced while in Italy led to one of the last projects she completed before she died, “The Temple Project,” in which women’s bodies functioned as columns surmounted by marble capitals. The Rome series may have also been an inspiration for Woodman’s book, Some Disordered Interior Geometries, published in 1981, shortly before her death. Soon after turning 22, Woodman ended her life and 10-year career as a photographer.