Early life Lilly Martin Spencer was born in
Exeter, England, to French-born parents Gilles Marie Martin and Angelique Perrine lePetit Martin. In 1830, when Lilly was eight, her family immigrated to
New York where they remained for three years before ultimately moving to
Marietta, Ohio. There Lilly was home-schooled by her highly educated parents and began what would be her long career as an artist. Her first artistic endeavors were “likenesses of the entire household, in lifelike, characteristic postures, so truthful as to be recognized at once by everyone who knew them." These likenesses were drawn on the walls of the family home. Rather than being scolded, Lilly was encouraged in her love of art by her parents, whose reformist tendencies—her mother was a follower of the Utopian advocate
Charles Fourier—included a belief in more opportunity for women. She continued to draw and her work was so impressive that "ladies and gentlemen began to call frequently at the farm, to judge for themselves of these vaunted pictures. Their admiring comments stimulated her ambition and added to her industry; but the difficulty of procuring proper materials and the want of a competent teacher retarded her progress." Yet she drew the attention of local artists and was mentored and helped, especially in coloring her charcoal drawings. One such mentor was
Sala Bosworth, a portrait and landscape artist who trained at the
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. The second was
Charles Sullivan (1794–1867) who had also studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; his influence is very apparent in the early work of Lilly Martin. Martin's first exhibition in August 1841 was held at a church rectory, where she drew the attention of
Nicholas Longworth, a benefactor of many artists. Of Lilly Martin, Longworth said “…a new genius has sprung up at Marietta or rather within five miles of it, at a farm house in the shape of a French girl of 17 or 18 years of age. She already has painted a great number of pictures. She is entirely self taught, excels in attitudes and designs." This advice she ignored; instead, she along with her father traveled to
Cincinnati for an exhibition in the autumn of 1841. Cincinnati was ”swarming with artists" and Lilly would spend the next seven years studying there. Lilly turned down Longworth's offer to send her to Europe to study; instead she received help and instruction from portrait artist James Beard and other local artists. While in Cincinnati, Spencer studied under portrait painter John Insco William. However the exact extent of her training is unknown. She produced her most well-known and popular works during the decade between 1848 and 1858. Lilly was rare in the art world. Most women used art as genteel accomplishment and not as a career. Lilly, however, provides an example of a woman who pursued art as an occupation.
Married life During her third year in Cincinnati she married
Benjamin Rush Spencer on August 24, 1844. Benjamin Spencer was an Englishman who worked in the tailoring business; however once they were married he no longer pursued an independent career, instead dedicating himself to helping his wife both in household chores as well as with her artistic work. This made Mrs. Spencer the main breadwinner for the family. Although the Spencers did not run a traditional home, from all accounts they had a "singularly happy one". Lilly Martin Spencer easily filled this gap with domestic scenes, often using her own family and pets as models. In 1849 she produced her first major successful painting, ''Life's Happy Hour''. Scholars have noted that due to the demand of the time Spencer was "able to combine her two roles, as artist and mother with a certain degree of success." Throughout the 1860s the
Civil War changed the outlook of many artists, including Spencer. Her paintings become more thoughtful and included more patriotic themes and titles. She produced famous and perceptive works of art such as
War Spirit at Home in 1866 and
We Both Must Fade in 1869, which depicts a young female looking in a mirror. The title offers a view of woman in society, which applied at least during the mid-19th century, commenting on concepts of the importance of beauty of women and their role in society. It was during this time that she painted what she considered her masterpiece,
Truth Unveiling Falsehood. The piece is divided in half; on one side a monstrous woman with a sheep's head is about to devour a helpless babe in its grasp, and at its feet a figure with a grossly deformed hand pays homage. On the other side a beautiful woman nurses a child. The image is divided by Truth, an angelic blond figure who lifts a cloak (Falsehood) off the monster exposing the woman-as-beast, referred to as Selfishness. The work, whose meaning remains ambiguous today, is her only such piece with an allegorical message.
Later life The family moved again in the winter of 1879–80 to rural
Highland, New York. Her paintings reflect this change with increased detail in landscape and farm life scenes. During the 1880s Spencer attempted to reintroduce her work to the public but found that the market had drastically altered since the Civil War. No longer was it driven by middle class mentality; instead the wealthy were steered by art dealers pushing "serious" European work. Lilly’s art dealer said, "You have not lost your old skill but in some particulars have improved on the old time things. You are broader and simpler in execution and finer in color I think," however clients were buying "the great Foreign names." She had a career that spanned more than 60 years, and painted portraits of influential people of the time, such as First Lady
Caroline Harrison and the suffragist
Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She persevered despite financial turmoil and facing challenges that all artists must address, as well specific difficulties for a female working in a male-dominated world. ==Artistic style==