Martin-Spencer, Lilly (1822–1902)
Martin-Spencer, Lilly (1822–1902)
American painter. Name variations: Angelique Marie Martin. Born Angelique Marie Martin, 1822, in Exeter, Devon, England, to parents of French descent; died 1902 in Poughkeepsie, New York; m. Benjamin Spencer (tailor, painter of stereoptican slides), 1844 (died 1890); children: 13.
Immigrated to US (1830), settling in Marietta, Ohio, where parents worked to establish utopian co-operative society and were deeply involved in Fourierist movement; studied art with Sala Bosworth and Charles Sullivan; caught attention of prominent Chicagoan, Nicholas Longworth (1841); trained in Cincinnati with John Insco Williams and James Henry Beard; sold art through Western Art-Union (1847), experiencing some success; moved to NY, where popularity continued to grow, and ultimately settled with family in Newark; depicted humor and sentiment in popular works which offer unique window onto 19th-century domestic life; produced 500 pieces, many of which were reproduced as popular engravings and lithographs.