Edith Emerson (1872-1961) - Lady Berkeley Profile Portrait, Signed (Charcoal on Toned Paper)
Edith Emerson (1872-1961) - Lady Berkeley Profile Portrait, Signed (Charcoal on Toned Paper). Profile portrait of Lady Berkeley, Mary Lowell Lloyd of the Lloyd family of Boston. Original Woodmere Art Museum tag and a note on the provenance from the original owner Sydney W. Porter, Jr. are attached en verso. Housed and matted under glass in the original wood frame. Toning and foxing is present on the matte. Drawing is in good condition, but has not been taken out of frame. Refer to photos for details.
Size: 24.18 x 18.58 in (frame)
Born March 15, 1872 in Philadelphia, Emily Emerson became a vital force in America's Golden Age of Illustration. Her detailed ink drawings and watercolors illuminated special editions of literary classics including The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám and The Canterbury Tales, with works now permanently housed in the Library of Congress, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and New York Public Library collections.
Beyond her regular showings at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1918 to 1927 and later from 1932 to 1945) and national venues like the Art Institute of Chicago, she played a particularly significant role at Woodmere Art Museum. As both exhibitor and curator, Emerson featured in Woodmere's important group shows celebrating Philadelphia artists, including the 1928 "Contemporary Book Illustrators" exhibition and the 1935 "Women Artists of the Delaware Valley" survey. Her curatorial work helped establish Woodmere's early identity as a champion of regional talent.
The Mount Airy home she shared with lifelong partner Violet Oakley at 627 St. George's Road became legendary in artistic circles. Their residence - part Gothic revival salon, part working studio - featured Emerson's carefully arranged collections of Renaissance reproductions and medieval manuscripts that informed both women's work. Here, amid the leaded glass windows and hand-carved furniture Emerson helped design, she hosted gatherings that connected Philadelphia's illustrators with the city's literary elite.
Emerson balanced these domestic and social commitments with professional rigor. Her teaching at Drexel Institute trained a generation of illustrators in traditional techniques, while her Woodmere exhibitions and acquisitions committee work (1932-1947) helped shape the museum's growing collection. The Pennsylvania Academy archives preserve her exhibition records, including jury notes that reveal her exacting standards, while the Free Library's special collections maintain her original book illustrations.
Edith Emerson (1872-1961) - Lady Berkeley Profile Portrait, Signed (Charcoal on Toned Paper). Profile portrait of Lady Berkeley, Mary Lowell Lloyd of the Lloyd family of Boston. Original Woodmere Art Museum tag and a note on the provenance from the original owner Sydney W. Porter, Jr. are attached en verso. Housed and matted under glass in the original wood frame. Toning and foxing is present on the matte. Drawing is in good condition, but has not been taken out of frame. Refer to photos for details.
Size: 24.18 x 18.58 in (frame)
Born March 15, 1872 in Philadelphia, Emily Emerson became a vital force in America's Golden Age of Illustration. Her detailed ink drawings and watercolors illuminated special editions of literary classics including The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám and The Canterbury Tales, with works now permanently housed in the Library of Congress, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and New York Public Library collections.
Beyond her regular showings at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1918 to 1927 and later from 1932 to 1945) and national venues like the Art Institute of Chicago, she played a particularly significant role at Woodmere Art Museum. As both exhibitor and curator, Emerson featured in Woodmere's important group shows celebrating Philadelphia artists, including the 1928 "Contemporary Book Illustrators" exhibition and the 1935 "Women Artists of the Delaware Valley" survey. Her curatorial work helped establish Woodmere's early identity as a champion of regional talent.
The Mount Airy home she shared with lifelong partner Violet Oakley at 627 St. George's Road became legendary in artistic circles. Their residence - part Gothic revival salon, part working studio - featured Emerson's carefully arranged collections of Renaissance reproductions and medieval manuscripts that informed both women's work. Here, amid the leaded glass windows and hand-carved furniture Emerson helped design, she hosted gatherings that connected Philadelphia's illustrators with the city's literary elite.
Emerson balanced these domestic and social commitments with professional rigor. Her teaching at Drexel Institute trained a generation of illustrators in traditional techniques, while her Woodmere exhibitions and acquisitions committee work (1932-1947) helped shape the museum's growing collection. The Pennsylvania Academy archives preserve her exhibition records, including jury notes that reveal her exacting standards, while the Free Library's special collections maintain her original book illustrations.
Edith Emerson (1872-1961) - Lady Berkeley Profile Portrait, Signed (Charcoal on Toned Paper). Profile portrait of Lady Berkeley, Mary Lowell Lloyd of the Lloyd family of Boston. Original Woodmere Art Museum tag and a note on the provenance from the original owner Sydney W. Porter, Jr. are attached en verso. Housed and matted under glass in the original wood frame. Toning and foxing is present on the matte. Drawing is in good condition, but has not been taken out of frame. Refer to photos for details.
Size: 24.18 x 18.58 in (frame)
Born March 15, 1872 in Philadelphia, Emily Emerson became a vital force in America's Golden Age of Illustration. Her detailed ink drawings and watercolors illuminated special editions of literary classics including The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám and The Canterbury Tales, with works now permanently housed in the Library of Congress, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and New York Public Library collections.
Beyond her regular showings at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1918 to 1927 and later from 1932 to 1945) and national venues like the Art Institute of Chicago, she played a particularly significant role at Woodmere Art Museum. As both exhibitor and curator, Emerson featured in Woodmere's important group shows celebrating Philadelphia artists, including the 1928 "Contemporary Book Illustrators" exhibition and the 1935 "Women Artists of the Delaware Valley" survey. Her curatorial work helped establish Woodmere's early identity as a champion of regional talent.
The Mount Airy home she shared with lifelong partner Violet Oakley at 627 St. George's Road became legendary in artistic circles. Their residence - part Gothic revival salon, part working studio - featured Emerson's carefully arranged collections of Renaissance reproductions and medieval manuscripts that informed both women's work. Here, amid the leaded glass windows and hand-carved furniture Emerson helped design, she hosted gatherings that connected Philadelphia's illustrators with the city's literary elite.
Emerson balanced these domestic and social commitments with professional rigor. Her teaching at Drexel Institute trained a generation of illustrators in traditional techniques, while her Woodmere exhibitions and acquisitions committee work (1932-1947) helped shape the museum's growing collection. The Pennsylvania Academy archives preserve her exhibition records, including jury notes that reveal her exacting standards, while the Free Library's special collections maintain her original book illustrations.
