Francesca Woodman

framed, a San Francisco Museum of Modern Art exhibition label on the reverse, 1975-76

Gift of the photographer to the present owner, 1970s, when students together at the Rhode Island School of Design

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Francesca Woodman, November 2011 - February 2012

Corey Keller, ed., Francesca Woodman (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2011), p. 40 (this print)

This early print, on slightly creamy single-weight paper with a surface sheen, is in generally good condition. As is sometimes typical of Francesca Woodman's lifetime prints, it has been printed slightly asymmetrically on the sheet. There is slight soiling and a random area of stray exposure in the margins. When examined in raking light, several creases that do not break the emulsion are visible. Most are in the margins, but there is one that begins in the left margin and snakes its way through the left side, into the lower left quadrant, and into the lower margin. On the reverse of the print, there is light soiling.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In the 1970s, artists' books and narrative sequences of images, such as those by Duane Michals, became popular. Francesca Woodman created six unique sequenced narrative books of photographs, among them Portrait of a Reputation.  The image offered here is a variant of the fourth image in that work, which Chris Townsend describes as 'a powerful allegory of the experience of being touched, as if being stained by that act' (Francesca Woodman, p. 236).