Beatrice Wood
Beatrice Wood ( born March 3, 1893 in San Francisco; † 12 March 1998 in Ojai ) was an American writer and artist object ( "Mama of Dada " ) of Dadaism and Surrealism.
Life
Beatrice Wood was born into a wealthy and socially committed family. 1898 the family moved to New York City. Beatrice accompanied her parents often on their travels through Europe. She lived her youth until the outbreak of World War I in Paris, in 1912 they were at the prestigious Académie Julian under Jules- Joseph Lefebvre studied art history. Wood lived a few weeks in Giverny, home of Claude Monet.
Because of the war in Europe, she returned to New York. Together with Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) and Henri -Pierre Roché (1879-1959) Wood gave the art magazine The Blind Man - one of the earliest manifestations of the Dada art movement in New York - out. In the early 1920s she earned the name Mama of Dada.
An unhappy relationship led Wood to Montreal, where she appeared for a short time as a vaudeville actress. Your oppressive relationship with her parents, her first marriage disappointment and the pressure to survive as an artist, Wood forced to recognize that they must support themselves financially if they really wanted to lead an independent life. So she moved to Los Angeles, took pottery classes and lived on pottery since the early 1930s. Later it was off to the Ojai, California. Since that time, she became interested in Eastern philosophy. She had contact with the theosophist Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986), who exerted a huge influence on them. She also taught at Hollywood High School and at Besant Hill School. In 1938 she married the engineer Steve Hogg († 1960).
At the age of 100 years was Beatrice Wood subject of a documentary Beatrice Wood: Mama of Dada. She was also the inspiration for the role of the adventurous 101 -year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater in the movie Titanic by James Cameron, played by actress Gloria Stuart.
Beatrice Wood is regarded as eccentric artist who wanted to be subordinate to any political or stylistic dogmas, and she was instrumental in modern art, but mainly affects the Dadaism. The circle of their friends and lovers included, among others, Edgar Varèse, Constantin Brancusi, Anaïs Nin, Francis Picabia, Reginald Pole, Joseph Stella, Man Ray, Gertrud and Otto Natzler.