mama of Dada

Beatrice Wood has always intrigued me. She lived everyday of her life to it's fullest until she was 105! Even during her last days she appeared remarkably youthful. As a liberated woman, she played by her own rules. She was born in San Francisco, California, the daughter of wealthy socialites. Despite her parents' strong opposition, Wood insisted on pursuing a career in the arts. Eventually her parents agreed to let her study painting and because she was fluent in French, they sent her to the prestigious Académie Julian in Paris. She returned to the United States during the onset of World War I. It was during this time she took to the stage an actress with a French Repertory Company in New York City. Wood was introduced to Marcel Duchamp, who introduced her to her first great love interest, Henri-Pierre Roché. Roché was to become her first lover, introducing her to the vibrant world of modern art and encouraging her own creative pursuits. He was also the first man to break her heart. Though she was involved with Roché, the two would often spend time with Duchamp, creating a love triangle. Beatrice had found herself surrounded by bohemian men who thought little of bourgeois morality. “Marcel shocked me because he said that sex and love are two different things,” Beatrice later recalled. Yet, she fell into a relationship with him because she felt they should become, “as close physically as they were emotionally” and they remained life-long friends. Together Wood, Duchamp and Roché created The Blind Man, a magazine that was one of the earliest manifestations of the Dada art movement in New York City. This inspired Roché's novel (and the consequent film), Jules et Jim, a story about two men and the woman who loved them both. (The other inspiration, the love triangle between Roché, Franz Hessel, and Helen Hessel.)

Next, Wood was introduced to art patrons, Walter and Louise Arensberg (who would become her lifelong friends). The hosted legendary soirees, in which artists, writers, and poets were invited for intellectual discussion. Besides herself, Duchamp, and Roché, the group included Francis Picabia, Mina Loy, Man Ray, Charles Demuth, Joseph Stella, Charles Sheeler and the composer Edgard Varèse. Beatrice Wood's relationship with them and others associated with the avant-garde movement of the early 20th century, earned her the designation "Mama of Dada." However, Beatrice a free spirit, did not stay at the academy because it was too academic for her.

After a succession of artistic careers (most notably as an actress) and an failed marriage, Beatrice fell in love with the British actor and director Reginald Pole. Although she fell for others over the next several decades, she claimed that she’d never stopped loving him. It was Pole who introduced her to Dr. Annie Besant of the Theosophical Society and the Indian sage Jiddu Krishnamurti. When Pole fell in love with a young girl and broke her heart, Beatrice moved to Los Angeles to be near the Arensbergs and Krishnamurti, who held regular events there. At this time she took up pottery in as a hobby, a passion that would last over the next sixty years. In 1948, Wood decided to settle down and build a home in Ojai, California, to be near Krishnamurti. The spirit of Dadaism, impact of Modernism, embrace of Eastern philosophy, influence of folk art and even the ornament of ethnic jewelry were all combined in her ceramics. She has left an incredible legacy.

Despite an increasingly busy schedule and demand for her ceramics, she had become a writer. Beatrice Wood was in her late eighties when her first book, The Angel Who Wore Black Tights, was published. A few years later, Beatrice Wood’s friend Anais Nin provided the model and encouragement for writing her autobiography, I Shock Myself. This was followed by Pinching Spaniards and 33rd Wife of a Maharajah: A Love Affair in India. There were also books written under the pseudonym of Countess Lola Screwvinsky.