Lydia Field Emmet
William Merritt CHASE
(American, 1849-1916)
Lydia Field Emmet
Date1900
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionsoverall: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)
frame: 32 × 27 1/4 × 3 in. (81.3 × 69.2 × 7.6 cm)
weight: 13 lb. (5.9 kg)
ClassificationPAINTINGS
Credit LineSBMA, Bequest of Margaret Mallory
Object number1998.50.23
Subject(s)
- women
- portraits
Collection
- 19th century American
- American
Sub-Collection(s)
- American Impressionism
- American
On View
Not on viewCollections
Label TextWilliam Merritt Chase thought so highly of the sitter of this portrait, his student, Lydia Field Emmet, that he invited her to lead drawing classes at his famed Shinnecock Summer School of Art on Long Island. By the time he fashioned this elegant likeness, Emmet was a much sought after high society portraitist, who painted with a painterly bravado similar to that exhibited here by her famous mentor. Emmet’s aquiline nose, prominent chin, and mysteriously veiled gaze give visual expression to her self-possession, as an artist much in demand. Chase uses her all-black attire to luxuriate in the inky tone, which like his artist-hero Velázquez, he could subtly modulate with as much virtuosity as his nemesis, Édouard Manet.