Her Powerful Brushstroke

Lilly Martin Spencer, an English born American painter, was raised in Marietta, Ohio. She was one of the mid-nineteenth century's most noted female genre painters. She faced societal restrictions throughout her career because of her gender. Self-taught, she rose from humble beginnings and pursued a career dominated by men to the top of her profession and became the first woman painter to be ranked with her male colleagues in this country. Her career spanned sixty years and she produced over five hundred works of art. Her Parisian-made lithographs from some of her paintings made her the most widely-reproduced genre painters in mid-nineteenth century America, selling an estimated one million copies. She understood what was expected of women, but she chose to disregard convention and pursue her passion. She faced great difficulties as a result of this decision, but she used her paintbrush to express the everyday experiences of women. Her paintings celebrated women's roles within a sphere of domesticity as well as empowered them by permitting their self-recognition.