Betty Woodman Research Paper

Lauren Canny Ms. Belford Ceramics 9 May 2024 Betty Woodman The artist Betty Woodman who was also known at the time as Elizabeth Abrahams Woodman. Betty Woodman was born in 1930 in the state of Connecticut. She was however raised in the town of Newton, Massachusetts. The parents of Betty Woodman were Henry and Minnie Abrahmas, they were progressive socialists and her mother pushed feminist movements. You can see later in Betty’s art how this influenced her work. This being said, Woodman grew up in a family of artists, so it was not a surprise when she chose to pursue ceramics. At the ripe age of 16, Betty began taking pottery classes and immediately fell in love with the medium which is clay. Her mom, Minnie Abrahams, also helped begin teaching …show more content…
Her continued education was from 1948-1950. A year after she graduated, in 1951 Betty Woodman visited Italy for the first time by herself. In Fiesole, Italy Betty became an apprentice of Giorgi Ferrero and Lionelle Fallcara even though before her venture this was not planned. These two ceramic artists critiqued and assisted in improving Woodman’s work. She began her career as a production potter, mostly making functional pieces of pottery. She returned to the U.S. and fell in love with a man named George Woodman. The artistic couple met in a pottery class that Betty herself was teaching. George just happened to be a student that day in Boston. Betty married Georg Woodman in 1953 and soon after they married the couple moved to Boulder, Colorado. George Woodman was a painter and photographer. Both of their children many years later also became artists. Sadly, her daughter committed suicide but she was a fantastic photographer. Betty received a scholarship in 1966 in Florence, Italy. Deciding to accept this scholarship, she and George then made a purchase and bought a small farmhouse in …show more content…
As you can see, she is a very decorated artist and is well respected in the art community. Some artists hardly get one exhibit, however Bett Woodman had too many to count. Here are some of the places she has exhibited at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO, Museu Nacional do Aziulejo, Lisbon and the Musée Ariana, Geneva Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, American Academy in Rome Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, 2016. In conclusion, Betty Woodman is a very unique artist who shows her political and feminist views through her art. She had the great influence from her parents and Italian artists. Many awards were earned throughout her career and many museums still hold her

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