Beatrice Wood

American Artist

About Beatrice Wood

Beatrice Wood (March 3, 1893 – March 12, 1998) was an American artist and studio potter involved in the Avant Garde movement in the United States; she founded and edited The Blind Man and Rongwrong magazines in New York City with French artist Marcel Duchamp and writer Henri-Pierre Roche in 1917. She had earlier studied art and theater in Paris, and was working in New York as an actress. She later worked at sculpture and pottery. Wood was characterized as the “Mama of Dada”.

She partially inspired the character of Rose DeWitt Bukater in James Cameron’s 1997 film, Titanic after the director read Wood’s autobiography while developing the film. Beatrice Wood died nine days after her 105th birthday in Ojai, California.

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Quotes by Beatrice Wood

A rich poet from Harvard has no sense in his mind, except the aesthetic.

Beatrice Wood

And I have exposed myself to art so that my work has something beyond just the usual potter.

Beatrice Wood

And I think maybe all women, if they just had a chance, would be romantic and believe in love and not sex. And men believe in sex and not love.

Beatrice Wood

And several galleries – two had asked me and I said no, because I didn’t want to leave things on consignment.

Beatrice Wood

And then a great thing in my life was going to India.

Beatrice Wood

And then, of course, most potters, they go in for earth tones and subdued things, and I like color.

Beatrice Wood

But I was very, very unhappy because my mother was very charming and generous, but to me, very dominating.

Beatrice Wood

But you can’t realize, you can’t know what another person goes through.

Beatrice Wood

But, you see, the theatre is not always art in America.

Beatrice Wood

Certainly I was relatively a refined person. No way a tramp.

Beatrice Wood

First of all, I’d like to say here the fact that I’m not naturally a craftsman has made me work very hard.

Beatrice Wood

Here in America we’re doing the most wonderful crafts.

Beatrice Wood

I don’t like to sell my finest pieces.

Beatrice Wood

I happen to believe that there is an afterlife.

Beatrice Wood

I was in a convent for a year.

Beatrice Wood

I’m not too interested in books about India.

Beatrice Wood

My life is full of mistakes. They’re like pebbles that make a good road.

Beatrice Wood

Over and over I’m on the point of giving it up.

Beatrice Wood

Sex is energy.

Beatrice Wood

The second time I was there I met Marcel Duchamp, and we immediately fell for each other. Which doesn’t mean a thing because I think anybody who met Marcel fell for him.

Beatrice Wood

There’s so much more to life than that, though I think that acting is fascinating because you can forget your own sorrow as you act and become somebody else.

Beatrice Wood

Well, I don’t go out much socially. I don’t enjoy going out.

Beatrice Wood

Yes, because when you’re in love, you are shy.

Beatrice Wood

You know, acting is very fascinating. But being an actress is not, because you become so concentrated on yourself.

Beatrice Wood

You know, God, the power that makes life, whatever it is, had just to make two things, masculine and feminine, for all this mischief. And made them so there is this entirely different point of view about love and sex.

Beatrice Wood

You see, I was never stage-struck the way most girls were.

Beatrice Wood