Artist

Margaret Foley

born VT? 1827-died Meran, Austria-Hungary 1877
Also known as
  • Margaret F. Foley
Born
United States
Died
Meran, Austria-Hungary
Active in
  • Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • Rome, Italy
Biography

Margaret Foley was born in northern Vermont where her father worked as a farmhand. Her only way to attend school was to work as a maid, which covered her room and board. Foley became a schoolteacher and worked in a mill, but was encouraged to pursue art because of her skillful carvings of cameos. With the help of a Vermont politician who recognized her talent, Foley went to Rome to study and to build a career as a sculptor. Her talent led to commissions from such distinguished sitters as the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and the abolitionist senator Charles Sumner. Foley continued sculpting after the onset of a neurological disease that eventually took her life.

Works by this artist (5 items)

Fritz Scholder, Indian Image, 1972, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1973.151
Indian Image
Date1972
acrylic on canvas
On view
Fritz Scholder, Artist at Forty as a Buffalo, 1977, color lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Adelyn D. Breeskin, 1977.96
Artist at Forty as a Buffalo
Date1977
color lithograph on paper
Not on view
Fritz Scholder, Indian and Contemporary Chair, 1970, oil on linen, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Judge and Mrs. Oliver Seth, 1983.111, © 1983, Fritz Scholder
Indian and Contemporary Chair
Date1970
oil on linen
Not on view