The First and last voyage of the RMS Titanic’s 100th anniversary was marked last April 2012. When a researcher was doing her research, she came across some interesting information. She learned about Beatrice Wood, the person whom director James Cameron used as a model for Rose Dewitt Bukater Calvert’s character in the film.
The moment she sat down and did her research on Beatrice, she found out that Beatrice turned out to be an extraordinary human being. So, she decided to sum up her life, only noting the really crucial information for us to learn about.
Beatrice Wood lived to be 105 years old!
Whenever she was asked about her secret to longevity was, she answered, "art books, chocolates, and young men."
Wood was born in San Francisco, California in the year 1893. At the age of five, her family moved her to New York City. Her mother immediately began to prepare Beatrice for her eventual coming out party. She sent her to Paris for a year in a convent. She was enrolled in finishing school and she enjoyed summer holidays in Europe. While in Europe, she was exposed to art galleries, museums and theatre.
In 1912, when she was supposed to throw her much-planned coming out party, she cancelled the plans and disobediently told her mom that she wanted to become a painter. So her mother sent her to France with a chaperone to study painting. Beatrice wasn"t impressed with the school and moved to Giverny, the hometown of Monet, where many aspiring artists seemed to flock. She got in a fight with her chaperone and took up residence in an attic.
Her mother did not like what was going on with her, so she sent Beatrice back to Paris.
In Paris, she shifted her focus to theatre. She took private lessons, but with the onset of World War I, her parents thought it best to bring her back to New York. Her mother tried her best to prepare Beatrice for the New York Stage, but she joined the French National Repertory Theatre. She played in over 60 roles under the stage name Mademoiselle Patricia.
While working at the theater, she was told about a Frenchman who was in the hospital and lonely. Someone suggested that she go visit him since she spoke French. During her second visit, she was introduced to the man"s friend, Marcel Duchamp. Beatrice was exposed to the dada movement, which is best described as an anti-art movement. Duchamp also introduced her to the writer Henri-Pierre Roché, who would become her first love interest. Duchamp, Roché, and Beatrice seemed to have some sort of love triangle; it is thought that this was the inspiration for Roché"s book, Jules et Jim. He was the first man to break her heart.
In 1918, Beatrice left New York and ran off to Montreal. Of course, her mother tracked her down with a private detective. Her friend Paul, who was the theater manager with whom she shared an apartment, convinced her that the only way to be out from under her mother"s thumb was to marry him. So she did. However, their marriage was dissolved years later.
When Beatrice returned to New York, she found that the dada movement had died down. Duchamp was traveling in Europe, the Arensbergs had moved to Los Angeles, and Roché had gone back to Paris.
She then fell in love with the British actor and director Reginald Pole. But Pole would also end up breaking her heart. She decided to move to Los Angeles to be near the Arensbergs.
What an interesting life Beatrice Wood lived! Surely, she has inspired so many people out there!
Post a Comment