Lot 187
Beatrice Wood (also known as Beatrice Beato Wood - American, 1893-1998). "But I Never Lie" mixed media (watercolor and graphite on paper), 1991. Signed "Beato" with year and title in graphite at upper left. A stirring mixed media composition by Beatrice "Beato" Wood, a legendary artist known as the "Mama of Dada" for her pivotal role in the New York Dada group as well as her romantic relationship with Marcel Duchamp. As a visual artist, Beato was probably best known for her pioneering work as a ceramicist; however, she also created robust drawings throughout her career - beginning around 1920 with her early Dada experiments and continuing until her death at age 105. "But I Never Lie" presents a minimalist yet haunting composition of geometric forms creating the abstract image of an adult holding the ears of a child, rendered in sketched pencil lines and light hues of blue, green, yellow, red, and gray, and contrasted against the bare white of the paper. Size of composition: 12" W x 16" H (30.5 cm x 40.6 cm); of matte: 18.5" W x 22" H (47 cm x 55.9 cm)
Luce Artist Biography: "Beatrice Wood fled her affluent home and proper upbringing to become an actress, artist, and writer. She was an outspoken and determined young woman who became known as the 'mama of dada' because of her involvement with the Dada artists and Marcel Duchamp. Wood began working with ceramics in 1933 when she took a class at Hollywood High School in California. She is recognized as a pioneer in experimenting with shining luster glazes, which became a trademark of her pottery. Wood had an insatiable love of life, romance and art, and worked at her wheel every day up until she was one hundred and three years old."
Despite being an accomplished artist and a pioneer of Dada in her own right, Wood's romantic involvement with Duchamp has largely overshadowed her artistic contributions. According to Alexxa Gotthardt, "Wood was indeed a lover of Duchamp, who she met in New York in 1916. They were part of a legendary menage-a-trois with Henri-Pierre Roche that would go on to inspire Francois Truffaut's French New Wave film, Jules et Jim (1962). More significantly, though, they had a lifelong creative dialogue that, in its first year, helped shape Dada.
Though a 1993 documentary later dubbed Wood the 'Mama of Dada,' she is rarely listed among the movement's pioneers. But in 1917, both she and Duchamp submitted works to the Society of Independent Artists' first exhibition, which would double as Dada's coming out. While Duchamp's contribution to the show - a found urinal turned on its head and titled Fountain (1917) - would later be seen as a watershed moment in the history of modern art, it was Wood's Un peut (peu) d'eau dans du savon (1917) that caused public uproar at the time.
'She was sort of the sensation of the show,' explains Francis Naumann, a Dada scholar, dealer, and dear friend of Wood's. 'Her work was attacked by the press.' The offending painting showed a woman's naked torso with a real piece of soap affixed 'at a very tactical position,' Wood would later explain. She and Duchamp also founded the seminal Dada journal, The Blind Man, with Roche. In one issue, Wood penned an article defending Duchamp's Fountain. 'The only works of art America has given are her plumbing and her bridges,' she mused. The quote is often erroneously attributed to Duchamp himself.
While Duchamp no doubt served as a mentor to Wood, her rebellious creativity didn't start or end with him. 'Beatrice was a romantic, but she never allowed a man to control her life ever,' explains Naumann. 'She paid her own bills from the very beginning to the end.'" ("The Forgotten Legacy of Cult California Artist Beatrice Wood" Artsy Editorial August 1, 2016)
Provenance: private Los Angeles, California, USA collection
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#186157
- Condition: Signed "Beato" with year and title in graphite at upper left. Set behind glass with board backing and custom matte. Has not been examined outside of glass but appears to be in excellent overall condition with a few minor marks and small indentations to matte that do not affect image. Label from Couturier Gallery on verso of backing board. Some nicks, indentations, and tears to backing board that do not affect image.
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