Jane Emmet de Glehn
Encyclopedia
Early life
Born in New Rochelle, New YorkNew Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...
, she was the youngest daughter of ten siblings. Her great-great-uncle Robert Emmet
Robert Emmet
Robert Emmet was an Irish nationalist and Republican, orator and rebel leader born in Dublin, Ireland...
was a notable Irish nationalist who was hanged in 1803 for high treason by the British court for his attempt to implement an abortive Irish rebellion. Lydia Field Emmet's great-grandfather Thomas Addis Emmet
Thomas Addis Emmet
Thomas Addis Emmet was an Irish and American lawyer and politician. He was a senior member of the revolutionary republican group United Irishmen in the 1790s and New York State Attorney General 1812–1813.-Background:...
, Robert's older brother, emigrated to the United States after Robert's execution. Thomas Addis Emmet would later become the New York State Attorney General
New York State Attorney General
The New York State Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of New York. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government of New York.The current Attorney General is Eric Schneiderman...
. His daughter Elizabeth Emmet (b.1794), Jane's great-aunt, would study portraiture under the direction of a steamboat designer and portrait artist named Thomas Fulton.
Both her older sisters Rosina Emmet Sherwood (1854–1948) and Lydia Field Emmet
Lydia Field Emmet
Lydia Field Emmet was an American artist best known for her work as a portraitist. She studied with, among others, prominent artists such as William Merritt Chase, Henry Siddons Mowbray, Kenyon Cox and Tony Robert-Fleury...
(1866–1952) would also become successful artists, as well as their first cousin Ellen Emmet "Bay" Rand (1876–1941). She is also the aunt of the prominent American playwright Robert Emmet Sherwood.
One of Emmet de Glenn's brothers, William LeRoy Emmet, was an accomplished engineer employed by General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
at Annapolis
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
, he was a pioneer in the areas of current electricity and power generation, best known for his work with steam turbines, mercury vapor, and electric ship propulsion. Another of her brothers was Robert Temple Emmet
Robert Temple Emmet
Robert Temple Emmet was a United States Army Colonel who was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions while surrounded by a much larger force. An 1877 graduate of West Point, he served in numerous campaigns on the Western Frontier.-Education and army career:Emmet was born in New York City to...
, a West Point
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
graduate, and Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
recipient.
Early career
Jane Emmet's career began while studying at the New York's Art Students League and studied under Frederick William MacMonniesFrederick William MacMonnies
Frederick William MacMonnies was the best known expatriate American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts school, as successful and lauded in France as he was in the United States...
. Then travelled to Europe to view the work of the Grand Masters and continue her studies. After returning to America, she met and married the notable British impressionist painter Wilfrid de Glehn
Wilfrid de Glehn
Wilfrid Gabriel de Glehn , RA was an Impressionist British painter, elected to the Royal Academy in 1932.Wilfried Von Glehn was born in Sydenham in south-east London...
(1870–1951) in 1904 in New Rochelle, New York.
Marriage and friendship with John Singer Sargent
Following her marriage to de Glehn, the couple honeymooned in Cornwall, England and vacationed in Paris and Venice and made a permanent home in London. In England Jane continued to draw and paint, exhibiting her work at the New English Art Club, the Royal AcademyRoyal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
and the Royal Hibernian Academy
Royal Hibernian Academy
The Royal Hibernian Academy is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823.-History:The RHA was founded as the result of 30 Irish artists petitioning the government for a charter of incorporation...
. She worked mainly in the mediums of chalk and charcoal. The young couple became frequent travelling companions of the American painter John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...
, whom Jane Emmet de Glehn had met at performance of the dancer Carmencita
Carmencita
Carmencita was a Spanish-style dancer in American pre-vaudeville variety and music-hall ballet. Today, she is noted for her role in an eponymous short documentary and by having her portrait painted by such notable artists as John Singer Sargent, William Merritt Chase and James Carroll Beckwith....
in 1890, and between 1905 and 1914 the trio often depicted each other in each of their works whilst travelling throughout Europe.
When World War I broke out, both Jane and Wilfrid joined the staff of a British hospital for French soldiers, Hôpital Temporaire d'Arc-en-Barrois, Haute-Marne, France in January 1915. On their return to England the following year Wifrid was commissioned in the Artists’ Rifles and seconded to the Front in Italy in 1917. After the war they returned to England and Wilfred held a solo exhibition at the Leicester Galleries and another solo show in New York in 1920. For the next decade the two would spend summers in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
and winters in France.
Later life
Unlike her sisters, or her cousin Ellen Emmet Rand, or even her husband, Jane Emmet de Glehn was not a prolific artist; after 1913 Jane generally exhibited her work alongside of that of her husband. During the 1930s and 1940s Jane had a studio in New York.In 1940 she shared an exhibition with her sister Lydia Field Emmet, and like her sisters and cousin, preferred to mostly work in portraiture. After her husband's death in 1951, Jane Emmet de Glehn spent much of her time casually sketching her extended family and members of her social circle. She and Wilfrid had no children and she died in 1961.