Young Husband: First Marketing

Lilly Martin Spencer

1854 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

Spencer portrayed the unvarnished reality of male-female relationships in this painting, which chronicles the travails of early married life. Here, the unseen young wife is not in full command of her kitchen, having sent her young husband out to procure the groceries—a task for which he is evidently not qualified. Using her own husband as a model, Spencer depicted the man stumbling down the street and attempting to hold on to the items in his overflowing basket, attracting gazes from at least one onlooker and suffering a public humiliation. Spencer depicted in humorous terms a real social anxiety of the time: that of setting up a household and running it efficiently.

Artist

Lilly Martin Spencer

Date

1854

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Max N. Berry, 2015