Woman of the Century/Emily Sartain

SARTAIN, Miss Emily, artist and principal of the School of Design for Women, in Philadelphia, Pa., born in that city 17th March, 1841. EMILY SARTAIN. She is a daughter of John Sartain, the well-known engraver. She early showed an artistic temperament, and her father instructed her in the art of engraving. She studied from 1864 till 1872 in the Pennsylvania Academy, with Christian Schuessele. In 1872 she went to Paris, France, where she studied till 1875 with Evariste Luminais. Her style in engraving is a combination of line, which she learned from her father, and mezzotint, which she learned from her other instructors. Her work includes framing prints and many portraits for the illustration of books. In oil painting her principal work is portraiture, with a small number of genre pictures. In the Centennial Exposition of 1876 her "Record" won a medal. In 1881 and 1883 she won the "Mary Smith Prize" in the Philadelphia Academy. From November, 1881, till February, 1883, she edited the art department of "Our Continent." In 1886 she was chosen principal of the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, which position she now holds. Her work as an artist is of a very high grade, and as manager of the design school she has shown marked executive capacity.