Sculptor. She received notoriety for her prosthetic masks worn by World War I veterans to hide their maimed appearances, which they had received as a result of combat injuries. Surviving with a gross facial disfigurement was common with the weapons used in this war. Wearing a mask allowed these veterans to return to a somewhat normal civilian lifestyle without feeling isolated or forced to endure cruel stares by others. As a well-known sculptor, a physician's wife and a socialite living in Boston, Massachusetts, she joined the Red Cross in support of World War I. She was well-educated in Europe, studied art with Bela Pratt, became a founding member of the Guild of Boston Artist, and had several art exhibitions with one being an one-woman show. Prior to the war, she made angels with beautiful faces for garden water fountains. After the war she founded the Studio of Portrait Mask in Paris, France where she and her devoted team of four assistants made these prosthetic masks. The team would cast the veteran's face, producing a mask of a thin sheet of galvanized copper. With great detail, she would then paint the copper mask with flesh-colored, hard enamel paint. Often times, she would paint the mask while the veteran was wearing it. She used his hair to create eyebrows, eyelashes, and a mustache. By using a pair of eye glasses, the finished mask was attached to the veteran's face. Through the years, her masks have been lost in time but a few have survived. Many men were buried with their mask. There some faded photos showing veterans with and without their mask. For her work with the veterans, she was the honored recipient of the Serbian Order of Saint Sava and the highest French honor to be awarded, the Legion d'Honneur Croix de Chevalier. Besides her sculptures, she published two books, “Hieronymus Rides” and “The Candid Adventurer” and at least two plays, which were never produced. A display of her work and a collection of her papers can be seen at the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art. Her papers were digitized in 2012.
Sculptor. She received notoriety for her prosthetic masks worn by World War I veterans to hide their maimed appearances, which they had received as a result of combat injuries. Surviving with a gross facial disfigurement was common with the weapons used in this war. Wearing a mask allowed these veterans to return to a somewhat normal civilian lifestyle without feeling isolated or forced to endure cruel stares by others. As a well-known sculptor, a physician's wife and a socialite living in Boston, Massachusetts, she joined the Red Cross in support of World War I. She was well-educated in Europe, studied art with Bela Pratt, became a founding member of the Guild of Boston Artist, and had several art exhibitions with one being an one-woman show. Prior to the war, she made angels with beautiful faces for garden water fountains. After the war she founded the Studio of Portrait Mask in Paris, France where she and her devoted team of four assistants made these prosthetic masks. The team would cast the veteran's face, producing a mask of a thin sheet of galvanized copper. With great detail, she would then paint the copper mask with flesh-colored, hard enamel paint. Often times, she would paint the mask while the veteran was wearing it. She used his hair to create eyebrows, eyelashes, and a mustache. By using a pair of eye glasses, the finished mask was attached to the veteran's face. Through the years, her masks have been lost in time but a few have survived. Many men were buried with their mask. There some faded photos showing veterans with and without their mask. For her work with the veterans, she was the honored recipient of the Serbian Order of Saint Sava and the highest French honor to be awarded, the Legion d'Honneur Croix de Chevalier. Besides her sculptures, she published two books, “Hieronymus Rides” and “The Candid Adventurer” and at least two plays, which were never produced. A display of her work and a collection of her papers can be seen at the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art. Her papers were digitized in 2012.
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