Skip to main contentBiographyEllen Emmet Rand was born in San Francisco in 1875, and moved to New York upon her father’s death in 1884. Her family was full of painters and writers, including Lydia Field Emmet, Rosina Emmet Sherwood, Jane Emmet de Glehn, and Henry and William James. She studied at the Cowles Art School in Boston and the Art Students League in New York, as well as the Shinnecock Summer Art School. She was asked to illustrate for Vogue Magazine, and offers from Harper’s Bazaar and Harper’s Weekly followed. After working as an illustrator, she went to Europe, living first in England and then studying in Paris before returning to New York to establish herself as a painter.
During her career as a painter, she would complete over five hundred portraits of society women, corporate men, lawyers, professors, politicians, scientists, and other artists. Her most notable portrait is probably that of President Franklin D. Roosevelt: she painted three portraits of him, one of which became his official White House portrait. She also painted several secretaries of state, including Elihu Root.
Rand was immensely popular in her day, and her works are now on display at the Harvard University Art Museum, University of Connecticut, Smithsonian Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vanderbilt University Art Collection, and the Hill-Stead Museum, as well as several private collections.
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Ellen Gertrude Emmett Rand
American, 1875 - 1941
During her career as a painter, she would complete over five hundred portraits of society women, corporate men, lawyers, professors, politicians, scientists, and other artists. Her most notable portrait is probably that of President Franklin D. Roosevelt: she painted three portraits of him, one of which became his official White House portrait. She also painted several secretaries of state, including Elihu Root.
Rand was immensely popular in her day, and her works are now on display at the Harvard University Art Museum, University of Connecticut, Smithsonian Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vanderbilt University Art Collection, and the Hill-Stead Museum, as well as several private collections.
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