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Lydia Emmett
William Merritt Chase • Painting, 1892, 182.9×91.8 cm
Description of the artwork «Lydia Emmett»
For its time, this is one of the most daring women's portraits. So far, only men have written so: a confident turn, a forward leg, an energetic and free hand position. Van Dyke (1, 2), Velazquez (1, 2), Rubens (1, 2), all written by them kings and princes, with swords and raincoats, titles and titles. Twenty years before Chase, such impudence only Edouard Manet, softening it yet with a fan, stage costume with Spanish roots and a more gentle turn of the body. In other cases, the ladies in the portraits were supposed to hold the dress with their left hand, fiddle with the handkerchief, rock the baby, compress the umbrella or fan. A gentle semicircle to bend it in the last resort. But artist Lydia Emmett it was necessary to write that way.
In 1892, Lydia Emmett (she was 26 years old!) Took part in the painting of the newly-constructed Women's Building at the upcoming World Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. The exhibition will take place in a year and will become the largest and most visited in the whole history. Lydia, a former student of William Chase, had already returned from Paris, where she studied, from Giverny, where she lived for some time in a colony of American impressionists, followers Claude Monet. Now Lydia Emmett is Chase's assistant and an elementary-level teacher at his summer school in Long Island.
She received the first order in illustrations for the children's book when she was 16 years old, became an academician at age 45, developed a sketch of the American Geographical Society medal, drew illustrations for Harper's Bazaar magazine, created stained glass for Luis Tiffany, wrote a portrait of the first lady, Lou Hoover, who is now in the White House. In a word, a fan, a kerchief and an umbrella are absolutely extraneous things for her.
In the portrait of Lydia Emmett, you can draw up a detailed list of painters admired by Chase, who were pleased to learn technical findings, by which they cited lace and dress, the pose of the model and the composition of the picture. And all this together would remain a clever curtsey towards Velasquez, Van Dyck, Whistler (1, 2, 3, 4), if not for this gender boldness. And one more thing: this long pink ribbon, which intersects vertically the whole figure of Lydia, is written by one stiff, virtuosic, defiantly accurate smear.
Author: Anna Sidelnikova
In 1892, Lydia Emmett (she was 26 years old!) Took part in the painting of the newly-constructed Women's Building at the upcoming World Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. The exhibition will take place in a year and will become the largest and most visited in the whole history. Lydia, a former student of William Chase, had already returned from Paris, where she studied, from Giverny, where she lived for some time in a colony of American impressionists, followers Claude Monet. Now Lydia Emmett is Chase's assistant and an elementary-level teacher at his summer school in Long Island.
She received the first order in illustrations for the children's book when she was 16 years old, became an academician at age 45, developed a sketch of the American Geographical Society medal, drew illustrations for Harper's Bazaar magazine, created stained glass for Luis Tiffany, wrote a portrait of the first lady, Lou Hoover, who is now in the White House. In a word, a fan, a kerchief and an umbrella are absolutely extraneous things for her.
In the portrait of Lydia Emmett, you can draw up a detailed list of painters admired by Chase, who were pleased to learn technical findings, by which they cited lace and dress, the pose of the model and the composition of the picture. And all this together would remain a clever curtsey towards Velasquez, Van Dyck, Whistler (1, 2, 3, 4), if not for this gender boldness. And one more thing: this long pink ribbon, which intersects vertically the whole figure of Lydia, is written by one stiff, virtuosic, defiantly accurate smear.
Author: Anna Sidelnikova
