Since Ms. Foley is an "artist," does this make her a "foley artist"?

Beautiful how the picture captures the soft glow of silk stockings. Once the epitome of luxury.

Interesting -- I bet they posed her with something that she hadn't actually painted but that made for a good photograph. And, although this makes for a good example of a woman's science career, it also undermines her a little by not including an actual example of her work. She was probably annoyed.

[Not quite. William Dovener laid out the illustrations and roughed in the general outlines. The various artists under his direction, including Mary Foley, filled in the details. - Dave]

My undergrad degree is in biological illustration and I worked four years as a entomological illustrator for a University. I did almost everything in black & white (pen & ink and scratchboard) and the largest was 14 x 10.

That's a mahl stick. It's used to when painting details so the artist doesn't touch/smear the surface. I strongly suspect this is not a working shot (taken during a real painting session) since that's a mighty fine dress with long & loose sleeves. Even with a mahl stick, they could easily brush the canvas when she's painting. I bet more likely she wore a smock and had her sleeves rolled up high when working.

I love that line from the article. I find this lady very appealing and interesting; thanks for featuring her.

What seem a signature, at bottom left of the Satin Moth painting, doesn't match the artist's name.

["Dovener pinx." (pinxit) is Latin for "Dovener painted it." The lawyer William Dovener was chief scientific illustrator for the Department of Agriculture. - Dave]

When painting she no doubt consults her microscope every so often. Don't really understand where the bamboo stick comes in.

[It's a wrist rest. - Dave]

Mary received Honorable Mention in a poster contest for the Charity Inaugural ball in 1925 (Washington Post, Feb 19). Her address was listed as 1812 Fairmont street northwest. A year later (Jan 6, 1926) a photo caption in the Washington Post reported that she worked for the bureau of entomology of the Department of Agriculture painting bugs and other insects.

Vocation and Avocation

Combined by D.C. Artist

Mrs. Benson Also Finds Time for Aviation,
Household Duties and Books on History of
Development of Collars and Cuffs.

By Rae Lewis

Most of us who have leisure time activities find sufficient occupation and satisfaction in one, and many uf us do not have time for more. But Mary Foley Benson has such a rich variety that she could give her complete attention to any one, did she so desire and were she able.

Mrs. Benson, when she first came to Washington, was primarily interested in art and wanted to design theatrical costumes and settings. she was here to study art, but she became interested in entomology and took a course with Dr. Aldrich, the curator of insects at the new National Museum. Combining the two, she is today a senior scientific illustrator in the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine of the Department of Agriculture. She works in color as well as in black and white and, of course, her knowledge of insects has increased with every day's work.

An expert some time ago made the statement to Mrs. Benson that there is no artistic merit in insects. she argued against this opinion and soon she decided to prover her point more forcibly. The result is that she is making water color panels of lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) with their "host plants." When completed these will include between 100 and 150 panels which she plans to exhibit in a one-man show next year, calling it "Wings." The decision to do all this was made when her painting of cecropia moths was accepted for hanging a the Independent Art Exhibit last spring. Doing this entirely on her own time, of course, there are only ten panels completed at present, for Mrs. Benson is making them absolutely scientifically accurate as well as artistic.

[Several intervening paragraphs on her interests and activities in aviation, theater and housekeeping.]

Mrs. Benson is devoted to each of her leisure time activities, but is not too busy to consider other possibilities. One idea which she would like to see carried to completion concerns animated cartoons of insects, done in color. She believes there is a real educational value in such cartoons, and that, done "straight" and without caricature, they would be an excellent means of showing how insects live and work.