Lilly Martin Spencer
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American artist Lilly Martin Spencer (born Angélique Marie Martin) was born in Exter, England to French parents, they immigrated to Marietta, Ohio when she was eight. Spencer’s artistic career began in Cincinnati in 1841. Her artwork gained popularity when she moved to New York in 1848.
Spencer was known for her still-life and portrait paintings that captured the scenes of home life. She would often use her family and her pets as models for playful reflections of domesticity. Additionally, Spencer’s art reflects the independent spirit of the female figure, an idea that worked against the (at the time) male-dominated world of art. Spencer’s fame was spread by the lithographs that she sold of her work.
![18339](https://www.1000museums.com/wp-content/uploads/18339-251x300.jpg "<div>
<p>Playfully lifting a spoonful of molasses, Spencer's painting implies that whoever approaches the woman, with the intention of kissing will have to "kiss" the molasses instead. The painting shows Spencer's ability to transfer humor into art, with the open-mouth grin and the daring gaze of the woman boldly inviting the viewer to come and try to kiss her.</p>
<p>SKU: 4202<br />Creator: Lilly Martin Spencer<br />Date: 1856<br />Original Medium: oil on canvas<br />Original Size: 29 15/16 x 24 15/16 in.<br />Location: Brooklyn Museum<br /><span style=\"font-size:small\"></span></p>
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![8496](https://www.1000museums.com/wp-content/uploads/8496-300x241.jpg "<div>Following the Civil War, Spencer's paintings took on a more patriotic tone. Using her family as models,<br />
the happier activities of Spencer (shown in white)<br />
and her daughters are juxtaposed to the resting elderly and the Union Army veteran (pushed against the left-hand side of the painting). The thimbles on the women's fingers and the ruined American flag at the foreground imply the female capabilities of<br />
"fixing" America after the war.<br />SKU: 8496<br />Creator: Lilly Martin Spencer<br />Date: c. 1867-1868<br />Original Medium: oil on canvas<br />Original Size: 24 x 30 in.<br />Location: Terra Foundation for American Art</div>")
