Lydia Field Emmet was born in New Rochelle, NY, Jan 23, 1866, the seventh of ten children. Her mother, Julia Colt Pierson, was an illustrator.
From 1884-85 she and her sister Rosina study at the Académie Julian in Paris. After returning to America she became a student of William Merritt Chase. She returned to Paris and studied with William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury. For a time during this period, she joined the colony of American artists at Giverny, France.
She designed windows for Tiffany in the 1880s and 90s. She was chosen along with Mary Cassatt and other prominent female painters to create a mural for the Woman's Building at the Chicago Exposition, 1893. She was a prolific illustrator, as well as a successful portrait painter. She exhibited widely and received numerous prizes including a silver medal at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. Her work is represented in many museums and art galleries including the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Emmet died in New York City August 16, 1952. (See portrait of LFE by William Merritt Chase, Brooklyn Museum, 15.316)
