Francesca Woodman

Given that her complete catalog is composed almost entirely of work she produced as a student, the posthumous critical esteem for American photographer Francesca Woodman is astonishing. Unlike music or math, where precocious displays of talent are not uncommon, photography tends not to have prodigies. Woodman, who committed suicide in 1981 at age 22, is considered a rare exception. That she has achieved such status is all the more remarkable considering only a quarter of the approximately 800 images she produced—many of them self-portraits—have ever been seen by the public.

Now, on the thirtieth anniversary of her death, Woodman is having something of a moment. In coming months, her work will be shown by several British galleries, and later this year San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art will mount a major retrospective of her work, the first of its kind in the United States. Currently running, is the first comprehensive survey of the artist’s brief but extraordinary career to be seen in North America, at the Guggenheim, until June 13.  The Woodmans—C. Scott Willis’s thoughtful new documentary about the photographer and her family opened at Film Forum in New York.

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