1948
– Beatrice Wood establishes her pottery studio in the east
valley.
Beatrice
Wood
Beatrice was born in San Francisco on March 3, 1893; but by 1900 was in Paris,
attending a convent school, about which she retained pleasant memories. “I learned to read French before I learned to read
English,” she recalled. She
received an excellent education at the Ely School in New York City and the
Shipley School at Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She studied drawing at the Julien Academy in Paris and also attended the
Finch School in New York City. After
all this education, she announced that she wished to live a “bohemian life of
an artist and paint in Paris.”
Paris was an exciting place to be. She
attended the riotous premiere of the Ballet Russe production of Le sacre du
printemps. She then joined the
French National Repertory Company in New York City, where she appeared in over
sixty parts. It was about this
time, in 1916, that she met the composer Edgard Varese, who introduced her to
Marcel Duchamp and other members of the New York Dada group.
Duchamp encouraged her to draw, and she produced impressive line drawings. One of the drawings was of a stick figure, thumbing its nose as it strode
along. It was used for a poster to
advertise a Blindman’s Ball. The
jaunty figure followed her till the end of her days.
Beatrice’s life changed in the 1920s when she became a member of the
Theosophical Society, which she joined in 1923. It was this interest which first brought her to the Ojai Valley. Jiddu Krishnamurti, the Indian philosopher and teacher, at
the time associated with the Theosophical Society, was rapidly gaining worldwide
attention; and he selected the Ojai Valley as a location for his teaching in the
United States. Beatrice Wood
came to the valley to attend his first “Star Camp” meeting in 1928.
Beatrice led folk dances at the Star Camp. She had danced professionally in Europe and received lessons from Ivan
Clustine, the choreographer for the great ballet dancer Ana Pavlova. Beatrice’s demonstration of her mastery of the dances taught to her by
Clustine was performed in the presence of the renown dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. Beatrice was also an acquaintance of the famous dancer Isadora Duncan.
Beatrice developed an interest in ceramics in 1928. She wanted to produce a teapot to match some “luster” plates she had
purchased in Holland. “Luster”
refers to a metallic finish, simulating silver or gold. The project was more extensive than she thought, and in time she found
herself successfully in the profession of a ceramicist. Her works were exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York City as early as 1940.
Her workshop and home, located in the San Fernando Valley, were destroyed by a
flood in 1938. Ten years later, she
moved to the Ojai Valley, where she settled on March 3, 1948 (her birthday). The nearby Happy Valley School, with a founding board of directors which
included Aldous Huxley, Krishnamurti and Annie Besant, attracted her attention. She was associated with the Happy Valley Foundation for
the rest of her life.
Her ceramic work then entered what has been described as “a mature expression
of her luster glazing technique.” She
didn’t think of herself as a chemist, but she was very methodical about
testing different chemical formulas for glazes. She also worked with Otto and Vivika Heino, who where themselves noted
ceramicists.
Another great change occurred in her life, when she was selected as a “Goodwill Ambassador” to India by the U.S. government in 1961. She visited India, where her works were exhibited in fourteen Indian cities. She also took up the cause of promoting India’s traditional handicrafts. Before long, she took to wearing Indian saris and heavy and abundant Indian necklaces and bracelets. Her appearance was striking, but her explanation was simply that the saris were very comfortable.
During the final three decades of her life, her works were exhibited in
galleries and museums around the world. Her
book, The Angel Wore Black Tights, was published in 1982. Her autobiography, I Shock Myself, was published in
1985. She received a variety of
awards from universities and arts councils. A documentary about her life, Mama of Dada, was shown on public
television in 1995.
One of her great achievements was her longevity. Her 90th birthday was celebrated in Los Angeles in 1983 with a Dada Ball. Her 100th birthday was celebrated in 1993; and even through these final years, she was
still creatively productive. On
March 3, 1998, she celebrated her 105th birthday. She died at her home in the upper Ojai Valley a little over a week later
on March 12, 1998.
09
by Richard Hoye
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