Theodore Wores

When a veteran Centurion was recently asked if he remembered Theodore Wores, who had not been in the club for a long time, he said: “Oh yes, and what a good sort he was, how shy and kindly!” It is a characterization typical of the club, which has harbored so many good companions of his modest demeanor and friendly talk. When he lived in New York his studio was in Tenth Street and he came to the club daily. Making a trip to Japan he brought back enough pictures to give an exhibition at the Century. But recent decades passed without Wores giving his fellow members the chance to savor his fellowship. Born in San Francisco in 1860 [sic: best evidence suggests he was born 1856], he was deeply devoted to his native city and spent much of his life there. For years the place to find him was the Bohemian Club. In San Francisco he practiced the art of a proficient and picturesque painter worthy of his pupilage as one of Duveneck’s “boys” in old and still famous days at Munich. He did not emulate his master’s virtuosity but worked in a more deliberate way. His ability and his sincerity gave him an honorable place. He was instructor as well as painter and illustrator in his time, maintaining the high standard which he had steadfastly followed. Though in later years he was seldom with us in the flesh he was a true Centurion and proud of it, retaining his membership despite his distance from New York. Our tribute to him must be that paid to one who was an affectionately loyal ambassador to the Coast.

Geoffrey Parsons
1939 Century Memorials