"Art was a religion for both of them." Danielle travels to Charleston, home to Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group deep in the Sussex countryside, to explore an exhibition of the work of Betty and George Woodman.
How can a physical space impact an artist’s work? Danielle travels to Charleston, that famous home in the rolling Sussex hills of South East England, which was home to the Bloomsbury Set during the First and Second World Wars and which still attracts fans of the works of Virginia Woolf, her sister Vanessa Bell their friends who stayed there, and which continues to be held up as a beacon of artistic and sexual freedom. This summer, the space plays host to an exhibition of the artists George and Betty Woodman, a husband and wife team of artists, who, although not contemporaneous with the Bloomsbury Group (Betty lived from 1930 - 2018 and George from 1932 - 2017) nonetheless share in the ideal of embracing a life filled with creativity in a home away from the hustle and bustle of the city - in George and Betty’s case, leaving New York for their farmhouse in Antella, just outside of Florence in Italy. To discuss Betty and George, and the impact of their surroundings in which they worked, as well as their daughter, the late photographer Francesca Woodman, Danielle speaks to Lissa McClure, Executive Director of the Woodman Family Foundation, and Emily Hill, Acting Head of Exhibitions at Charleston.
Further reading:
Charleston for more about Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell and the wider Bloomsbury Group.
The Woodman Family Foundation for more information about Betty Woodman, George Woodman and their daughter, the photographer Francesca Woodman.
To contact In Talks With host Danielle Radojcin with comments and suggestions, please head to https://www.instagram.com/danielleradojcin/