2018.10.423
The Intelectuals
Artist
Beatrice Wood (Beatrice Beato Wood)
(San Francisco, CA, 3/3/1893 - 3/12/1998, Ojai, CA)
Title
The Intelectuals
Creation Date
1994
Century
late 20th century
Dimensions
10 x 13 1/4 in. (25.4 x 33.66 cm)
Object Type
drawing
Creation Place
North America, United States
Medium and Support
colored pencil on paper
Credit Line
Archival Collection of Marion Boulton Stroud and Acadia Summer Arts Program, Mt. Desert Island, Maine. Gift from the Marion Boulton "Kippy" Stroud Foundation
Copyright
This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s
Copyright Terms and Conditions.
Accession Number
2018.10.423
After receiving an artistic education in Paris in the years leading up to World War One, Beatrice Wood connected with avant-garde circles in New York, befriending several French émigré artists, including Marcel Duchamp, who encouraged her to draw. Wood’s involvement with Dadaism, an approach to art deliberately eschewing traditional academic and social standards, is evident in this work executed late in her career. Playfully misspelling the word “Intellectual,” the artist, who harkens back to the style of her youth, pairs up the brilliant individuals alluded to her title. An exception is the young woman who appears at the work’s center (possibly a surrogate for the artist) who appears smitten with a young man who is similarly unimpressed with the sycophants. The composition casts into doubt whether she will be able to connect with him—he does not return her gaze—just as Wood’s love for Duchamp remained unrequited despite a lifelong friendship.
Object Description
Title might be read "The Inteltuals;" see registrar comments. Date might be 1991
