Thelma Wood
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Thelma Ellen Wood (July 3, 1901 – December 10, 1970) was an American artist, specialising in the traditional fine line drawing technique known as
Silverpoint Silverpoint (one of several types of metalpoint) is a traditional drawing technique first used by medieval scribes on manuscripts. History A silverpoint drawing is made by dragging a silver rod or wire across a surface, often prepared with gesso ...
. She was noted for her hectic private life, and her lesbian relationship with
Djuna Barnes Djuna Barnes (, June 12, 1892 – June 18, 1982) was an American artist, illustrator, journalist, and writer who is perhaps best known for her novel ''Nightwood'' (1936), a cult classic of lesbian fiction and an important work of modernist liter ...
was fictionalized in Barnes' novel ''
Nightwood ''Nightwood'' is a 1936 novel by American author Djuna Barnes that was first published by publishing house Faber and Faber. It is one of the early prominent novels to portray explicit homosexuality between women, and as such can be considered ...
''.


Early life

Wood was born in
Mankato, Kansas Mankato is a city in and the county seat of Jewell County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 836. History Mankato was originally called Jewell Center, and under the latter name laid out in 1872. It w ...
, the second of four children. Her father later moved the family to
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
. In 1918 her mother and younger brother succumbed to the
influenza epidemic of 1918 The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
. Two months prior to their deaths, Wood enrolled at the
St. Louis School of Fine Arts The St. Louis School of Fine Arts was founded as the Saint Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts in 1879 as part of Washington University in St. Louis, and has continuously offered visual arts and sculpture education since then. Its purpose-buil ...
at
Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
. It is likely there that she learned the technique of
silverpoint Silverpoint (one of several types of metalpoint) is a traditional drawing technique first used by medieval scribes on manuscripts. History A silverpoint drawing is made by dragging a silver rod or wire across a surface, often prepared with gesso ...
drawing, for which she is best known. In 1920, Wood and a fellow art student, Myra Marglous, applied for passports and left for Paris to continue studying art.


Relationships

While in Paris, Wood frequented
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
and was said to have enjoyed excessive alcohol consumption, and being involved in casual sexual relationships. Accounts have described her as "boyish-looking", standing almost 6 feet tall, and "sexually magnetic". In the fall of 1921, Wood and photographer Berenice Abbott met. They were briefly lovers and remained close friends for life. Abbott later introduced Wood to poet
Djuna Barnes Djuna Barnes (, June 12, 1892 – June 18, 1982) was an American artist, illustrator, journalist, and writer who is perhaps best known for her novel ''Nightwood'' (1936), a cult classic of lesbian fiction and an important work of modernist liter ...
, and made photographic portraits of both of them. Wood also had a brief relationship with the poet
Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. She wrote much of he ...
during the early 1920s. Wood's relationship with
Djuna Barnes Djuna Barnes (, June 12, 1892 – June 18, 1982) was an American artist, illustrator, journalist, and writer who is perhaps best known for her novel ''Nightwood'' (1936), a cult classic of lesbian fiction and an important work of modernist liter ...
lasted 8 years and was deemed the ''"great love"'' of each of their lives. From 1921 to 1929 their relationship was fueled by sex, alcohol, and marred by infidelities, jealousy, and violence. Barnes was known for her jealousy with her lovers; Wood was known to be promiscuous with many women. Although Barnes wanted their relationship to be monogamous, Wood regularly sought out casual sexual partners of both sexes. Barnes, also, was never faithful. Wood became involved in an affair with a wealthy woman named Henriette Alice McCrea-Metcalf, leading to the end of her relationship with Barnes. When Wood moved to
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
in New York City in 1928, Metcalf followed. Wood continued to write and visit Barnes, to whom Wood still professed her love, but Barnes refused to become involved with Wood on a regular basis. By 1932, Wood was more of an unofficial
courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other ...
to Metcalf, and Metcalf supported Wood's art studies in
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
. In 1934, they moved to
Sandy Hook, Connecticut Sandy Hook is a village in the town of Newtown, Connecticut. It was founded in 1711. It was listed as a census-designated place prior to the 2020 census. Sandy Hook borders the village of Botsford, the Newtown borough, and the towns of Monroe ...
. In
Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...
, Wood began a gourmet catering business that ultimately failed. Her relationship with Metcalf was complicated by Wood continuing to seek out drinking and sexual companions of both sexes, and Wood became increasingly unfaithful. When, ''
Nightwood ''Nightwood'' is a 1936 novel by American author Djuna Barnes that was first published by publishing house Faber and Faber. It is one of the early prominent novels to portray explicit homosexuality between women, and as such can be considered ...
'', Barnes' best-known novel, was published in 1936, Wood, called "Robin Vote" in the book, was outraged. Wood is said to have felt misrepresented, and claimed that the publication of the book ruined her life.


Career

Although very little of her work survives, many of her drawings accompany collections of
Djuna Barnes Djuna Barnes (, June 12, 1892 – June 18, 1982) was an American artist, illustrator, journalist, and writer who is perhaps best known for her novel ''Nightwood'' (1936), a cult classic of lesbian fiction and an important work of modernist liter ...
. Wood's sketchbook from a trip to
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
remains in the Barnes Papers at the
University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
. Her work drew strongly on images from nature. Wood's silverpoint drawings were exhibited at least once, at Milch Galleries in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in 1931 where Mary Fanton Roberts reviewed her work favorably.


Later life

Around 1942 or 1943, her relationship with Metcalf had deteriorated to a breaking point due to Wood's unfaithful sexual activities and lack of any gainful employment. Metcalf offered Wood money to move out of their shared house and effectively ended their sixteen-year relationship. Once the separation was complete, Metcalf reportedly never spoke to Wood again, even when Wood, dying, is said to have requested to see her. Wood became involved with Margaret Behrens, a realtor and antique dealer, and she moved into Behrens' home in
Monroe, Connecticut Monroe is a town located in eastern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 18,825 at the 2020 census. Monroe is largely considered a bedroom community of New York City, New Haven, and Bridgeport. History On May 15, 1 ...
. They were together until Wood's death.


Death

Wood died of metastasized
breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...
in Danbury Hospital in 1970. Her ashes were interred in the Behrens family plot in Bridgeport, Connecticut.


Legacy

Author
Sarah Schulman Sarah Miriam Schulman (born July 28, 1958) is an American novelist, playwright, nonfiction writer, screenwriter, gay activist, and AIDS historian. She is a Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at College of Staten Island (CSI) and a Fellow a ...
dedicated her 2018 novel ''Maggie Terry'', to Thelma Wood. In an interview she stated Wood was, "historically, one of the world’s worst girlfriends who ever lived. She was the bad girlfriend of Djuna Barnes and she drove Djuna Barnes so crazy that she was the muse for Djuna Barnes’s work. So the book is dedicated to bad girlfriends."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Thelma Ellen 1901 births 1970 deaths American expatriates in France Lesbian artists American LGBT artists LGBT people from Kansas LGBT people from Missouri Artists from St. Louis Deaths from breast cancer Deaths from cancer in Connecticut Artists from New York City 20th-century American sculptors People from Monroe, Connecticut People from Sandy Hook, Connecticut Sculptors from New York (state) Sculptors from Missouri 20th-century LGBT people