Thelma Wood
| Thelma Wood | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Thelma Ellen Wood July 3, 1901 Kansas, United States |
| Died | December 10, 1970 (aged 69) Danbury, Connecticut, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Sculpture, drawings |
Thelma Ellen Wood (July 3, 1901 – December 10, 1970) was an American sculptor. She was born in Kansas and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. She was a sculptor and silverpoint artist who is best known for her lesbian relationships, particularly with Djuna Barnes.
Wood was born the second child to Maud Crawford Wood and William Barg Wood, who moved the family to St. Louis, where in 1918 her mother and younger brother succumbed to the influenza epidemic of 1918. Two months previous to their deaths, Wood enrolled at the St. Louis School of Fine Art at Washington University. There, she is presumed to have learned the technique of silverpoint 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 their study of art.
While in Paris, Wood frequented Berlin 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. She later introduced Wood to poet Djuna Barnes, and made photographic portraits of both of them. Wood also had a brief relationship with the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay during the early 1920s.
Wood's relationship with Djuna Barnes began in 1921 and ended in 1929. Barnes was known for her jealousy with her lovers; Wood was known to be promiscuous with many women. Their relationship was deemed the "great love" of each of their lives, though fueled by sex, alcohol, and marred by infidelities, jealousy, and violence. Although Barnes wanted their relationship to be monogamous, Wood regularly sought out casual sexual partners of both sexes. Barnes, also, was never faithful.
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