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 (8 items)

John Marin, Skyscrapers in Construction, No. 1, 1930, etching, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1967.104
Skyscrapers in Construction, No. 1
Date1930
etching
Not on view
John Marin, Untitled (The Blue Sea), ca. 1921, watercolor and charcoal on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1964.2V
Untitled (The Blue Sea)
Dateca. 1921
watercolor and charcoal on paper
Not on view
John Marin, The Sea, Maine, 1921, watercolor and charcoal on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1964.2R
The Sea, Maine
Date1921
watercolor and charcoal on paper
Not on view
John Marin, Off York Island, Maine, 1922, watercolor, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Baum, 1970.327
Off York Island, Maine
Date1922
watercolor
Not on view