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Artist: Beatrice Wood (American, 1893-1998)
American ceramicist, painter, and writer. Born in San Francisco, California in 1893 to wealthy parents, Wood spent her childhood surrounded by the arts in New York City. She studied at the Académie Julian in Giverny, France. Wood later joined the French National Repertory Theater where she played many roles as an ingénue. Her stage name was "Mademoiselle Patricia." Her career as an artist began when she created an abstract piece to show Marcel Duchamp, a painter, that anyone can create art. In her 30s, Wood moved to back to California. Her first exposure to ceramics was an adult education course at Hollywood High School, which she had taken to learn how to make a teapot to match some luster-glaze plates she had bought in Holland. A deepening interest in ceramics led her to study with renowned potters Otto and Gertrud Natzler. Reaching the age of 105, she worked in her studio until two years before her death.