Emily Drayton Taylor

Emily Drayton Taylor
Born	April 14, 1860  Philadelphia
Died	June 19, 1952  (aged 92) Philadelphia
Occupation	Miniature painter
Spouse(s)	J. Madison Taylor
Parent(s)	Henry Edward Drayton

Emily Heyward Drayton Taylor (April 14, 1860 – June 19, 1952) was an American miniature painter.

Biography

Emily Heyward Drayton was born on April 14, 1860 in Philadelphia, the daughter of Henry Edward Drayton, a Philadelphia physician, and Mary Brady Drayton.[1] She married neurologist Dr. John Madison Taylor in 1879.[2]

Taylor studied art under Cécile Ferrère-Guérin in Paris, likely in the 1870s, and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1877. She painted over 400 miniature portraits, including likenesses of US President William McKinley and First Lady Ida Saxton McKinley in 1899. One of her works, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a copy of a work by Edward Greene Malbone, a painting of the eye of Maria Miles Heyward Drayton, her paternal grandmother.[2]

Taylor was the founding president of the Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters, serving from 1901 to 1951. She wrote the chapter "Miniature Painting as an Art" for the book Heirlooms in Miniatures (1898) by Anne Hollingsworth Wharton, the first book on the history of American miniatures.[2]

Emily Drayton Taylor died on June 19, 1952, in Philadelphia at the age of 92.[3]

References

1. Who was who in America : a companion biographical reference work to who's who in america. Chicago, IL: Marquis-Who's Who. 1973. p. 713.
2. Barratt, Carrie Rebora; Zabar, Lori (2010). American Portrait Miniatures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-1-58839-357-9.
3. "Emily Taylor, 92, Portrait Painter: Specialist in Miniatures Dies --Led Pennsylvania Society for More Than 50 Years". The New York Times. Philadelphia (published June 20, 1952). June 19, 1952. p. 23. Retrieved November 12, 2024 – via Internet Archive.