Lydia Field Emmet

Lydia Field Emmet (January 23, 1866 – August 16, 1952) was an American artist best known for her work as a portraitist. She studied with, among others, prominent artists such as William Merritt Chase, Harry Siddons Mowbray, Kenyon Cox and Tony Robert-Fleury.Swinth, Kirsten. ''Painting Professionals: Women Artists & the Development of Modern American Art, 1870-1930,'' Chapel Hill, NC: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2001 Emmet exhibited widely during her career, and her paintings can now be found hanging in the White House, and many prestigious art galleries, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art.Tufts, Eleanor. ''American Women Artists, 1830-1930,'' Washington, DC: National Museum of Women in the Arts (U.S.), International Exhibitions Foundation, 1987

Early life and family

Emmet was born on January 23, 1866, at New Rochelle, New York, the seventh of eight children born to merchant William Jenkins Emmet and illustrator Julia Colt Pierson.

Emmet's paternal great-grandfather, Thomas Addis Emmet, was a prominent lawyer who later served as New York State Attorney General. Thomas was an Irish nationalist who held a pivotal position in the Dublin Society of the United Irishmen after the failure of the Irish Rebellion of 1798.James P. Byrne, Philip Coleman, Jason King. ''Ireland and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History,'' pp. 295-296. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2008 In historical accounts of the period, Thomas is overshadowed by his younger brother Robert Emmet, who was hanged in 1803 for high treason by the British government, for his abortive attempt to implement an Irish rebellion.''Time'' magazine. Friday, May 4, 2007
/ref> Thomas immigrated to the United States with his family shortly after the execution of his brother.

Emmet's paternal grandfather, Judge Robert Emmet (1792–1873), married Rosina Hubley, served as the captain of a cavalry regiment in the War of 1812, and followed in his father's footsteps becoming a prominent New York jurist. He retained an interest in Irish politics, and served as president of the Repeal Movement in the United States, ''"in sympathy with the efforts of Daniel O'Connell to bring about a repeal of the so-termed union with England."''''Biographical record of the graduates and former students of the Yale Forestry School,'' p. 39. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press, 191

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Emmet's maternal grandfather, Josiah G. Pierson, was an inventor who established the firm of J. G. Pierson & Brothers in Ramapo, New York; an iron works that manufactured cut nails.Swank, James Moor. ''History of the Manufacture of Iron in All Ages,'' p. 108. Philadelphia, 188

/ref> Pierson is believed to have invented the first properly functioning nail-cutting machine, with a patent registered for this device in 1795. Josiah was the son of Congressman Jeremiah Halsey Pierson (1766–1855).

Emmet's two surviving sisters, Rosina Emmet Sherwood (1854–1948) and Jane Emmet de Glehn (1873–1961), also became successful artists, as did their first cousin Ellen Emmet ("Bay") Rand (1876–1941).''Lydia Field Emmet,'' Schwarz Gallery, Philadelphia. Copyright, 2009. http://www.schwarzgallery.com/index.php?page=artist&modifier=detail&artist=69 Accessed September 9, 2009

One of Emmet's brothers, William LeRoy Emmet, was an accomplished engineer employed by General Electric.Weber, Robert J. ''Inventive Minds: Creativity in Technology, Vol 49,'' p. 293 New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1992 A graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, he was a pioneer in the areas of current electricity and power generation, best known for his work with steam turbines, mercury vapor, and electric ship propulsion. Another of her brothers was Robert Temple Emmet, a West Point graduate, and Medal of Honor recipient. Her brother Devereux Emmet was a pioneering American golf course architect who, according to one source, designed more than 150 courses worldwide. Her brother Christopher Temple Emmet was an noted attorney and sportsman.

Education

Emmet was given her first art lessons as a child by her older sister Rosina. Emmet and Rosina went on to attend the Académie Julian in Paris, France in 1884–1885.
The Emmet family had suffered severe economic setbacks in the aftermath of the Civil War. The sisters were able to study abroad only after receiving an inheritance from their cousin, Bache Whitlock. However, the Emmets were disappointed with Julian's, and Rosina commented that the admission standards were ''"so low that it is not very inspiring. If they (instructors) criticized conscientiously they would punch holes through some of the vile paintings and make them begin from drawing casts."'' The Emmets did hold a high opinion of at least one of their instructors, Tony Robert-Fleury, whom Lydia found to be ''"so much brisker and more severe and decided, besides being very inspiring."''

After returning to New York, the Emmet sisters, and their cousin Ellen, became students of notable American painter and instructor William Merritt Chase. During her tenure in New York City, Emmet also studied with such artists as: Harry Siddons Mowbray, Kenyon Cox and Robert Reid. She continued her training in Paris with William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Louis-Joseph-Raphaël Collin, Tony Robert-Fleury, and the American sculptor and painter Frederick William MacMonnies. She worked mainly in the mediums of watercolor and oil.Tappert, Tara Leigh: ''The Emmets: A Generation of Gifted Women.'' New York: Borghi and Co., 1993.

While studying in Europe, Emmet and her cousin Ellen joined a summer colony of American artists, including John Leslie Breck and Theodore Robinson, at Hotel Baudy near Claude Monet's home in Giverny, France.

Career

One of Emmet's first artistic achievements came in 1883, at the age of sixteen, when she was commissioned to illustrate Henrietta Christian Wright's children's book ''Little Folk in Green''.

In order to supplement her income, Emmet worked during the early 1890s as the assistant of her former instructor, William Merritt Chase, teaching preparatory classes at his Shinnecock Hills Summer School of Art on Long Island, New York.

In 1893, Emmet was selected, along with prominent women American artists such as Mary Cassatt, Mary MacMonnies-Low, Lucia Fairchild Fuller and her sister, Rosina (Emmet) Sherwood, to paint murals in the newly constructed Woman's Building at the World's Columbian Exposition. Emmet's contributions included a painting entitled ''Seal of the New York State Board'' and a mural entitled ''Art, Literature and Imagination''.

Emmet later designed stained glass windows for Louis Comfort Tiffany and was a prolific illustrator for ''Harper's Bazaar