Francesca WoodmanFrancesca Woodman Roma 1977-1981

"Francesca Woodman spent the year 1977-78 in Rome as a Rhode Island School of Design study abroad student. During that period, Paolo Missigoi and I opened the Maldoror bookshop where we first met Francesca. One day Francesca came up to me and handed me a grey cloth box and said, "I'm a photographer." I opened the box and I was immediately seduced by what was in it. It was the first time I had seen her pictures. The short-circuit between her girlish appearance and the forcefulness of her images disoriented me. I couldn't believe that behind that youthful mask there was a woman with such energy. I was both awestruck and filled with joy: standing before me was a great artist. She then said, "If you want, you can do something with this grey box." That was how I came to organize Francesca Woodman's first exhibition in 1978. The photographs, letters, postcards, and drawings gathered together here are traces of her life that Francesca left her friends at the Maldoror. This collection, a visual narrative of the period, is the legacy of an exceptional artistic experience.

Giuseppe (Cristiano) Casetti Rome, May 2011"

- From the book