Artwork
Young Husband: First Marketing
Young Husband: First Marketing is an oil painting by the American Folk Art artist Lilly Martin Spencer. It dates from 1854 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- 2015.401
- Credit line
- Gift of Max N. Berry, 2015
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The presence of the tree, rendered in oil on canvas, contributes to the narrative atmosphere typical of genre scenes that depict everyday life.
The painting titled Young Husband: First Marketing, created by Lilly Martin Spencer in 1854, is classified as a genre scene and portrays a man standing beside a tree. This iconography, a solitary male figure accompanied by a tree, functions as the visual subject of the work, situating it within mid‑19th‑century American domestic genre painting. The presence of the tree, rendered in oil on canvas, contributes to the narrative atmosphere typical of genre scenes that depict everyday life.
The artwork is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains part of the American Wing collection.
Technique & Style
Created in 1854, Young Husband: First Marketing is executed in oil paint on a canvas support. The work functions as a genre scene, depicting a male figure situated near a tree. Physical measurements indicate the painting stands 74.9 centimeters in height with a width of 62.9 centimeters.
While the specific handling of the brushwork and the current condition of the surface are not detailed in the available records, the piece is formally classified within the American Wing collection. The composition relies on the traditional medium of oil on canvas, a standard choice for mid-nineteenth-century American narrative painting, to render its domestic subject matter.
History & Provenance
Created in 1854, Young Husband: First Marketing is an oil on canvas painting by Lilly Martin Spencer currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The work is classified within the museum's American Wing. While specific accession numbers are not provided in the available records, the painting is cataloged with a height of 74.9 cm and a width of 62.9 cm. The sources indicate the artwork depicts a man and a tree, consistent with its genre scene classification.
No specific exhibition history or provenance details regarding prior ownership or past displays are documented in the provided sources.
Context
Lilly Martin Spencer created Young Husband: First Marketing in 1854, an oil on canvas genre scene that portrays a man standing beside a tree. The work is classified as a genre painting and is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s American Wing, illustrating the museum’s emphasis on mid‑nineteenth‑century American domestic subjects. As a leading exponent of American genre painting, Spencer specialized in narrative depictions of everyday life, and this piece exemplifies her focus on modest, moralizing episodes within the home and its surroundings.
Its dimensions (approximately 74.9 × 62.9 cm) and material consistency with contemporary academic practice further situate it within the artistic conventions of the period.
Overview
Lilly Martin Spencer's 1854 oil on canvas, Young Husband: First Marketing, is a genre scene housed in The American Wing. The painting captures a moment of domestic life, portraying a well-dressed young man engaged in an unusual task for his social standing and gender at the time: grocery shopping. This work exemplifies Spencer's focus on everyday activities and the subtle humor found within them.
Artist & collection
Artist
Lilly Martin Spencer was born in Exeter, England, on November 26, 1822, to French intellectual parents who supported abolitionism and women's education.
