Portraitist Lydia Emmet is especially known for juvenile subjects painting. Born in New Rochelle, New York, she was one of ten children and was part of a family of several noted artists, which included: Elizabeth Emmet Le Roy, a portraitist and maternal grandmother; Julia Colt Pierson, her mother who studied with Daniel Huntington; Lydia's sister, Rosina Emmet Sherwood, and a cousin Ellen Emmet.

In spite of the painting traditions of her family, Lydia Emmet learned to draw informally at eighteen, she traveled to Paris with her sister, Rosina, and studied at the Julian Academy. On her return, she worked as an illustrator of books and magazines, experimented with watercolors and oil landscapes, and did miniature and pastel...