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Catalog Data

Creator:
Emmet family  Search this
Subject:
Emmet, Lydia Field  Search this
Emmet, Robert  Search this
Emmet, Julia Colt Pierson  Search this
De Glehn, Jane Erin Emmet  Search this
De Glehn, Wilfrid-Gabriel  Search this
Morgan, Elizabeth Emmet  Search this
Rand, Ellen Emmet  Search this
MacMonnies, Frederick William  Search this
Millay, Edna St. Vincent  Search this
James, Henry  Search this
Lunt, Alfred  Search this
Fontanne, Lynn  Search this
Casals, Pablo  Search this
La Farge, Bancel  Search this
Beaux, Cecilia  Search this
Metcalfe, Susy  Search this
Doyle, Nancy  Search this
Ormond, Violet Sargent  Search this
Monod, Lucien  Search this
White, Stanford  Search this
Quilter, Roger  Search this
Sargent, Emily  Search this
Saint-Gaudens, Augustus  Search this
Sargent, John Singer  Search this
Sherwood, Robert E. (Robert Emmet)  Search this
Sherwood, Rosina Emmet  Search this
Sherwood, Rosamond  Search this
Berkshire Museum  Search this
World's Columbian Exposition (1893 : Chicago, Ill.)  Search this
Danforth Museum  Search this
Type:
Scrapbooks
Sketchbooks
Photographs
Video recordings
Drawings
Diaries
Sound recordings
Place of publication, production, or execution:
Other
Physical Description:
9.1 Linear feet
Arrangement:
The Emmet family papers are arranged as nine series. Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1855-1988 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 1, 10, OV 12) Series 2: Correspondence, 1792-1985 (6.2 linear feet; Boxes 1-7) Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1870s-1981 (11 folders; Box 7) Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1947-1983 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 7-8) Series 5: Business Records, circa 1799-1945 (7 folders; Box 8) Series 6: Printed Material, 1872-1989 (0.35 linear feet; Boxes 8, 10) Series 7: Scrapbooks, 1870-1890 (0.2 linear feet; Boxes 8, 10) Series 8: Artwork, circa 1850-circa 1920 (0.35 linear feet; Boxes 8, 10) Series 9: Photographs, circa 1870s-circa 1950s (1 linear foot; Boxes 8-9, 11)
Access Note / Rights:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Summary:
The Emmet Family papers document the lives and careers of two generations of the Emmet family from New Rochelle, New York and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, whose artistic talents flourished during the later 19th through the mid-20th centuries. The collection dates from 1792 to 1989, with the bulk of the material dating from 1851-1989, and measures 9.1 linear feet. Through biographical material, two diaries, correspondence, writings and notes, exhibition files, business records, printed material, two scrapbooks, artwork, and photographs of family, friends, exhibitions, and artwork, the papers provide both a rich overview and detailed insights into the daily lives, relationships, and careers of many members of the family. The collection focuses in particular on sisters Lydia Field Emmet, Jane Erin Emmet de Glehn, and Rosina Emmet Sherwood, their mother, Julia Colt Pierson Emmet, and their cousin Ellen Gertrude "Bay" Emmet, all noted painters and illustrators.
Citation:
Emmet family papers, 1792-1989, bulk 1851-1989. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
This bulk of the collection was digitized in 2017 and is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
Material lent for microfilming is available on 35mm microfilm reel 4544 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Funding:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art
Use Note:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reel 4544) including one scrapbook, compiled by Rosina Emmet Sherwood, consisting of portrait sketches, drawings of her dogs, genre scenes, travel views, and photographs of travels, friends, actors, and the ship "Scythia,". Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Biography Note:
The Emmet family, descended from patriot Thomas Addis Emmet, brother of Irish martyr Robert Emmet, counts many physicians, lawyers, and writers (including cousin Henry James) among its ranks. Although evidence of artistic talent existed in several previous generations, it flourished during the later 19th through the mid-20th centuries in the professional portraiture of sisters Rosina Emmet Sherwood, Lydia Field Emmet, Jane Erin Emmet de Glehn, and their cousin Ellen "Bay" Emmet Rand.
The eldest daughter of Julia Colt Pierson Emmet (1829-1908), herself a talented illustrator who had studied under Daniel Huntington, Rosina "Posie" Emmet (1854-1948) studied under William Merritt Chase at his Tenth Street Studio in New York and under Robert-Fleury at the Academie Julian in Paris. Before her marriage to Arthur Murray Sherwood in 1887, Rosina established a studio in New York and continued to submit illustrations to various publications. During her marriage, she slowed her creative activities, until financial reverses dictated her return to her career around the turn of the 20th century. Her daughter Rosamond Sherwood (1899-1990) was also a portrait painter. Her son, Robert Emmet Sherwood (1896-1955) became a four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright.
Lydia Field Emmet (1866-1952) studied under Collin, Bouguereau, MacMonnies, and Robert-Fleury at the Academie Julian. Upon her return to New York, Lydia continued her studies under Chase, Kenyon Cox, H. Siddons Mowbray, and Robert Reid at the Art Students League, as well as at Chase's Shinnecock Summer School of Art. She established her portrait studio in New York City and began spending summers at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where she built her home, "Strawberry Hill," in 1905. Best known for her portraits of children, Lydia's subjects were members of the socially prominent families of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia.
The youngest sister, Jane Erin Emmet (1873-1961), also studied with Chase in New York, and in Paris. In 1904, she married British landscape painter Wilfrid Von Glehn, who had visited the United States with his friend John Singer Sargent. (The Von Glehns' surname was changed to De Glehn, in 1919.) Settling in London, Jane continued her painting, befriended many artists and composers, and accompanied her husband and Sargent on several art-related journeys through Europe.
The Emmet sisters' cousin, Ellen Gertrude "Bay" Emmet (1875-1941), studied in New York at the Art Students League and under Frederick MacMonnies in Paris, becoming a National Academician in 1934. She married William Blanchard Rand in 1911 and settled in Salisbury, Connecticut. After the stock market crash of 1929, Bay's portraits of prominent society figures provided most of her family's income.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
In 1988-1991, the bulk of the Emmet family papers were donated by Rosamond Sherwood, daughter of Rosina Emmet Sherwood (via Katharine Emmet Bramwell of New York), by Rosamond Sherwood's estate (via F. Douglas Cochrane, executor, from Boston), and by Rosamond's nieces, Virginia Sherwood and Julia Shipway. Additionally, one scrapbook was lent for microfilming in 1990 and subsequently donated by Mrs. Earl Maize. Douglas Cochrane then loaned another scrapbook for microfilming (reel 4344) in 1991 which was returned to Mrs. Earl Maize.
Digitization Note:
This site provides access to the papers of Emmet family in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2017, and total 22,429 images.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching -- France -- Paris  Search this
Works of art  Search this
Painting, American -- New York (State)  Search this
Illustrators -- New York (State)  Search this
Playwrights  Search this
Portrait painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Singers  Search this
World War, 1914-1918  Search this
World War, 1939-1945  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Sketches & Sketchbooks  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)10250
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)213367
AAA_collcode_emmefami
Theme:
Diaries
Sketches & Sketchbooks
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_213367