She was born on March 17, 1841 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, the daughter of John Sartain and Susannah Longmate (Swaine) Sartain. Her great-grandfather, Barak Longmate, and her grandfather, John Swaine, were both noted English engravers. Samuel and William Sartain [qq. v. ] were her brothers. Reared in a family devoted to art and literature, Emily's talent developed early and as a girl she accompanied her father on trips to Europe
She studied in great art centers of Europe. She learned mezzotint engraving from her father. Subsequent study from 1864 to 1870 under Christian Schussele, at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, four years more in the studio of the French painter, Evariste Luminais, in Paris, and two winters in the galleries of Italy, completed her education in the handling of colors.
After an intensive studies abroad, she returned to America to attain success in book-portrait work and the engraving of large framing prints.
In 1875 a three-quarter-length portrait of Mlle. Del Sarte was accepted by the Paris Salon together with a genre picture "La Piece de Conviction" which, under the title of "The Reproof, " was awarded a medal the following year at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. The artist now divided her time between portrait-painting and engraving.
From 1881 to 1883 she was art editor of Our Continent, an illustrated journal published in Philadelphia, and of the de luxe edition of New England Bygones by Ella H. Rollins, published in 1883.
In 1886 she accepted the invitation of the board of directors of the School of Design for Women to become principal of the institution, thus beginning her career as an educator. She was made a director of the Philadelphia public schools in 1890, but pressure of work forced her to resign two years later. Her preoccupation with educational work was detrimental to her own personal career as an artist, although she still executed a few oil portraits, and finished two large etchings for New York publishers.
For the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, she acted as chairman of the committee of women artists who decorated the women's room of the Pennsylvania State Building with murals and paintings. In 1899 she was invited to London to speak before the International Council of Women on opportunities offered women of America in applied design. The following year she was appointed official delegate to represent the United States in Paris at the International Congress of Instruction in Drawing, rendering a similar service in Berne, Switzerland, in 1904.
An exhibit at the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo in 1901 brought her an honorable mention for oil portraits, and her various services in the interest of art and education brought a long list of medals, certificates and diplomas, including one from the London Society of Literature, Science and Art.
After thirty-three years as principal of the School of Design for Women she resigned active work, becoming principal emeritus. After her retirement she spent two years in California, then went to Europe, where she established residence in Paris. In 1927 she returned to Philadelphia where she died of acute heart trouble.
She became the only woman mezzotint engraver of her day on either side of the Atlantic. Her famous paintings: Le Piece de Conviction, portrait of Mlle. Del Sarte, Portrait of a Young Girl and others. She was also the first woman ever appointed to the bureau of judges for an international exposition. Besides, she was the director of the Philadelphia School of Design for Women. During the many years of her public life she had been interested in local as well as in international cultural movements and sponsored the organization of many art and literary clubs in Philadelphia. She helped found the New Century Club for working and professional women, and the professional women's art clubs, The Plastic Club and The Three Arts Club. She was the only woman to win a gold medal at the 1876 World Fair in Philadelphia. In 1881 and again in 1883 she was awarded the Mary Smith prize at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for the best work shown by a woman artist.
She was an accomplished linguist in French, Italian, German, and Spanish.
Quotes from others about the person
According to Henry Adams, Sartain was "a pioneering advocate of advanced education for women. "
Nina de Angeli Walls wrote,
As Sartain's career illustrates, art schools conferred professional status in a cultural field once dominated by men. Women artists used formal schooling to counter the accusation of amateurism frequently leveled at them. Nineteenth century design schools were the first institutions to offer professional certification for women in such careers as art education, fabric design, or magazine illustration; hence, the schools opened unprecedented paths to female economic independence.
She met Thomas Eakins at the academy and entered into "first known romance". Their romantic relationship ended after Eakins went to Paris to study.
