Inez Demonet
Demonet in 1915
BornApril 25, 1897
Washington, D.C., US
Died1980(1980-00-00) (aged 82–83)
Green Valley, Arizona, US
EducationCorcoran School of Art, National School of Fine & Applied Arts
Known formedical illustration
SpouseCecil S. O'Brien

Inez Michon Demonet (April 25, 1897 – 1980) was an American painter and medical illustrator known for establishing modern Medical Arts at the National Institutes of Health.[1][2][3]

Early life

She was born Inez Michon Demonet in 1897 in Washington, D.C., to George H. Demonet and Emily Demonet.[4][5] Her father was French and her mother was Belgian.[4] She went to the Corcoran School of Art, where she won a medal for excellence, and the National School of Fine & Applied Arts.[6][7][8] Her specialty was maxillofacial and plastic surgery illustration.[6]

Facial Reconstruction Surgery image by Inez Demonet O'Brien April 9, 1919

During World War I, she created watercolors of facial injuries and surgeries for the U.S. War Department.[6] She married Cecil S. O'Brien, a navy surgeon, in Baltimore on April 21, 1915, but they did not stay married long.[9][8]

Career

She became the only artist in residence at the Hygienic Laboratory (now the NIH) in 1926, working her way up to chief of the Medical Arts department in 1938, the first person to hold that position.[10] Her work included illustrations for journals such as the Journal of the National Malaria Society whose authors called her work "as accurate a representation of the actual appearance... as it is possible to attain."[11] Her illustrations for the book Manual of Microscopical Diagnosis were called "true masterpieces" when describing illustrations of the morphology of stained parasites.[12]

She occasionally did other non-medical illustrations, such as for The Anatomy and Physiology of the Light Organ in Fireflies published in the journal Bioluminescence in 1948.[13] From 1960 through 1965, she worked as a Fine and Applied Arts Consultant for Medical Arts, working on the interiors of buildings in the DC area.[9]

Demonet was a founding member of the Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI).[6] The AMI gives an annual scholarship in her name to an applicant with "highest academic and personal achievements in the field of visual communications in the health sciences" in programs accredited by AMI.[14] She retired from NIH in 1965 and moved to Green Valley, Arizona in 1971.[9][15][16]

Artistic work

Demonet also worked in other mediums and was a member of the Washington Water Color Club, the Society of Washington Printmakers, and the Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.[6]

Her hand-colored etching Rickshaw Coolie – Shanghai is in the Smithsonian American Art Museum.[17] Two of her etchings are held by The Booth Family Center for Special Collections at Georgetown University and some of her etchings were purchased by President Roosevelt.[18][19][20]

References

  1. ^ "Index of Women Artists : The Johnson Collection, LLC :: The Johnson Collection, LLC". The Johnson Collection, LLC. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  2. ^ Collins, Jim (1973). Women artists in America; eighteenth century to the present. p. 101. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  3. ^ Who's who in American art. New York: R.R. Bowker. 1959. p. 143. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Inez M Demonet", United States census, 1930; Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; roll 294, page 6A, line 26, enumeration district 83, Family History film 2,340,029, National Archives film number T626. Retrieved on May 22, 2022.
  5. ^ McMahan, Virgil (1976). Washington, D.C., artists born before 1900: a biographical directory. p. 21. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e Streck-Havill, Trenton (March 5, 2020). "Vignettes of Military Women Medical Illustrators from the Otis Historical Archives". National Museum of Health and Medicine: The Micrograph. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  7. ^ "Inez Demonet". Smithsonian American Art Museum. April 26, 1980. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Medal Winner at Art School Kept Wedding Secret Since April". The Washington Times. June 15, 1915. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  9. ^ a b c "18.0026.001 – "Church of Lincoln: Familar [sic] Corners in Washington"". Office of History, National Institutes of Health. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  10. ^ History, Office of NIH (April 2006). 70 Acres of Science. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  11. ^ Haas, Victor (1947). "Non-pigmented forms of plasmodium Gallinaceum in Chick Embryos: Water Color Plates". Journal of the National Malaria Society. National Malaria Society. 6 (2): 122. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  12. ^ "Bench Aids for the Diagnosis of Human Malaria". Tropical Doctor. 16 (4): 190. October 1986. doi:10.1177/004947558601600420. S2CID 56670646. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  13. ^ Buck, John B. (1948). "The Anatomy and Physiology of the Light Organ in Fireflies". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Wiley. 49 (3): 397–485. Bibcode:1948NYASA..49..397B. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1948.tb30944.x. ISSN 0077-8923. S2CID 86285400.
  14. ^ "Scholarships". AMI. March 28, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  15. ^ National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (1925). National Institutes of Health Bulletin. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 7-PA195. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  16. ^ Moore, Edith (June 6, 1971). "Residents of Green Valley Maintain Attractive Patios". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, AZ. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  17. ^ "Rickshaw Coolie—Shanghai". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  18. ^ "Sanctuary – Rock Creek Park, Wash. DC". Georgetown University Library Art Collection. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  19. ^ "Georgetown University Library Art Collection". Market Place, Georgetown. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  20. ^ Hill, Katherine T. (November 13, 1949). "Paints Diseases". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, KY. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
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