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Beatrice Wood

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Artist

The Resume

    (March 3, 1893-March 12, 1998)
    Born in San Francisco, California
    Ceramicist
    Known for her luster-glaze technique
    Co-founder of the dadaist art journal 'Blind Man' (1917)
    Wrote the autobiography 'I Shock Myself' (1985)
    Subject of the documentary 'Beatrice Wood: Mama of Dada' (1993)
    Love triangle with artist Marcel Duchamp and diplomat/author Henri-Pierre Roche allegedly inspired Roche's book 'Jules et Jim' (later made into a film by Francois Truffaut)
    One of the inspirations for the character Rose in 'Titanic' (1997)

Why she might be annoying:

    She started as an actress, but noted 'Acting is fascinating. But being an actress is not.'
    She claimed, 'Marcel shocked me because he said sex and love are two different things,' but she became his lover anyway.
    She said of 'Jules et Jim,' 'I cannot say what memories or episodes inspired Roché, but the characters bear only passing resemblance to those of us in real life.'
    She was married twice, with both marriages unconsummated.
    She was a vegetarian.
    She wrote under the pseudonym Countess Lola Screwvinsky.
    She was presented with a video of 'Titanic' by director James Cameron and actress Gloria Stuart but refused to watch it because the movie was sad and it was too late in her life to spend time being sad.

Why she might not be annoying:

    Her first husband sold her art books to support his gambling habit.
    She took up ceramics after she was unable to find a matching teapot to go with a set of baroque dessert plates she had bought.
    She said of her often idiosyncratic pottery, 'Knowing what one's about to take out of a kiln is as exciting as being married to a boring and predictable man.'
    Anais Nin wrote, 'Beatrice Wood combines her colors like a painter, makes them vibrate like a musician.'
    She was named an 'Esteemed American Artist' by the Smithsonian Institution and a 'Living California Treasure' by governor Pete Wilson (both 1994).
    She worked at a potter's wheel daily until she was 103.
    She said the secret to her longevity was 'chocolate and young men.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 88.89% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 20 Votes: 45.00% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 16 Votes: 68.75% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 15 Votes: 60.0% Annoying