Lilly Martin Spencer (American, 1822-1902) A Rare Portrait of Benjamin Franklin

Lilly Martin Spencer (American, 1822-1902) A Rare Portrait of Benjamin Franklin with A Young Girl.

19th Century.

Oil on canvas, signed

Lilly Martin Spencer was one of the most popular and American female genre painters in the mid-nineteenth century. She primarily painted domestic scenes, paintings of women and children in a warm happy atmosphere, although over the course of her career she would also come to paint works of varying style and subject matter, including the portraits of famous individuals such as suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Although she did have an audience for her work, Spencer had difficulties earning a living as a professional painter and faced financial trouble for much of her adult life.

Her works are in prominent museums in America including: National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Currier Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and many more.

This is an extremely rare and important painting by the greatest female artist of her time. The fact that she painted Benjamin Franklin makes it even more impressive, a true collectors piece.

Canvas size:48" x 36"
Frame size: 51" x 39"

Very good condition. No damages noted. Ready to hang.

Exhibitions of the artist:

St. Luke's Episcopal Church (Marietta, Ohio), Rectory. 1841
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Life in America: A Special Loan Exhibition of Paintings, April 24-October 29, 1939.
Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.) American Processional: The Story of Our Country, July 8-December 17, 1950
Currier Art Gallery of Art (Manchester, N.H.) 19th Century American Painting from the Collection of Henry Melville Fuller, September 18-October 17, 1971
Walter Art Gallery (Baltimore). Old Mistresses: Women Artists of the Past, April 17- June 18, 1972
Brooklyn Museum (Brooklyn, NY) Kiss Me and You'll Kiss the 'Lasses
National Academy of Design
Women's Pavilion of the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876