The papers of portrait and genre painter Lilly Martin Spencer, measure 0.9 linear feet and date from 1828-1966. The collection includes biographical material, scattered lists, notes, receipts, and legal documents relating to Spencer's life and work, Spencer's business and family correspondence, printed material, a lithograph, photographs of Spencer and others, and photographs of Spencer's artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of portrait and genre painter Lilly Martin Spencer, measure 0.9 linear feet and date from 1828-1966. The collection includes biographical material, scattered lists, notes, receipts, and legal documents relating to Spencer's life and work, Spencer's business and family correspondence, printed material, a lithograph, photographs of Spencer and others, and photos of Spencer's artwork.
The collection documents Spencer's popularity and success as a painter, her involvement with art associations and civic organizations such as Sorosis, and her personal life as a wife, mother, and breadwinner through correspondence with family, artists including John Sartain and Benjamin John Lossing, dealers including Samuel Putnam Avery, writers and editors such as Robert Green Ingersoll and Fannie Raymond Bitter, and social activists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as four series:
Series 1: Biographical Material and Other Papers, 1853-1959 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1, OV 3)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1828-1966 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1857-1961 (0.2 linear feet; Box 2, OV 3)
Series 4: Photographs, circa 1890-circa 1950 (0.1 linear feet; Box 2)
Biographical / Historical:
New York and Ohio painter Lilly Martin Spencer (1822-1902) was known for her popular portrait paintings and humorous domestic genre scenes.
Spencer was born Angelique Marie Martin in England to French parents, Giles and Angelique Martin, who were followers of the French social critic Charles Fournier. The family came to New York in 1830, moved to Marietta, Ohio, in 1833 and, in 1845, co-founded the communal settlement, Trumbull Phalanx, near Braceville, Ohio. In 1848, after her marriage to Benjamin Spencer at the age of 22, Spencer returned to New York. She achieved much success as a painter and was the main breadwinner for her family while giving birth to thirteen children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. The family moved several times, to Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio; Newark, New Jersey; and Highlands and Poughkeepsie, New York.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also has microfilm (reel 132) of the Martin family papers and Campus Martius Museum records regarding Lilly Martin Spencer. Originals are located at the Campus Martius Museum, Ohio Historical Society.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming on reel 131 including family history; biographical material; circa 50 photographs of Spencer and her paintings; M.A. thesis, "Lilly Martin Spencer: American Painter of the Nineteenth Century," by Ann Byrd Schumer; articles about Spencer's life and work, 1959; and a list of paintings owned by her granddaughter, Lillian Spencer Gates. Loaned materials were returned to the donor and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art in 1971 by Lillian Spencer Gates, Spencer's granddaughter.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Correspondence, journals, notebooks, sketchbooks, notes, scrapbooks, documents, photographs, lists, catalogs, clippings, and other publications, primarily of William Sidney Mount.
REEL A: Correspondence of William Sidney Mount, 1833-1868, pertaining to art, politics, personal affairs, and other matters. Among the correspondents are Charles Lanman, William Schaus, Jonathan Sturges, B.T. Hutchinson, Evelina Mount, Charles B. Wood, Samuel P. Avery and others. Also included are Robert Nelson Mount correspondence, undated cards and announcements, and notes.
REELS SM1-SM4: The Mount Brothers, exhibition catalog (1947); Scrapbook of clippings re Edward P. Buffet's biography of William Sidney Mount; Wm. S. Mount journals and notebooks, 1843-1868?; biographical notes; genealogy; Micha Hawkins papers; papers of Mount family members: Thomas S., John S., Henry S., Shepard Alonzo, Robert Nelson, John Henry, Thomas Shepard, Evelina, William Shepard, John Brester, Sarah Fisher, and Clara Brewster; William Sidney Mount correspondence, 1830-1868; estate papers; books owned and inscribed by Mount; and photographs of sketches by Mount.
REEL N726: A sketchbook of William Sidney Mount.
Biographical / Historical:
William Sidney Mount: painter; New York City and Stony Brook, Long Island. Born Setauket, L.I. to Thomas Shephard and Julia Hawkins Mount. Studied at National Academy of Design and with Henry Inman. Importance as an early genre painter. His three brothers Robert, Henry and Shepard and sister Ruth were also artistic and musical.
Related Materials:
Mount family papers also located at: Public Library, Smithtown, Long Island.
Provenance:
Material on reel A was received by the New York Historical Society from the Clara Brewster Mount estate, December 1, 1943. Papers on reel SM1-SM4 were collected by Ward Melville and donated to the Suffolk Museum at Stony Brook, Long Island. The papers were arranged for microfilming by AAA collector, Mary Bartlett Cowdrey, and microfilmed in 1958. The sketchbook on reel N726 was lent for microfilming by the Queensborough Public Library, 1967.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- Stony Brook Search this
Family papers include letters to Giles Martin from William Hebert and others concerning the Martin's plans to emigrate from England to America, and ca. 50 letters, 1828-1860, to Giles and Angelique Martin in Marietta and at Trumbull Phalanx by reformers active in Ohio and Massachusetts temperance, antislavery, labor and/or Association movements, among them Sarah G. Bagley, Maria M. Eastman, Mary Moody Emerson, Frances D.B. Gage, Anna Q.T. Parsons, Caroline M. S. Severance, Adeline T. Swift, and others less known but very active. Also included are 3 letters from Spencer, 1842 Mar. 31 and June 10, and 1847 July 10 to her parents.
The Campus Martius Museum records consist of correspondence with owners of Spencer's prints, paintings and and papers; clippings, articles, and reproductions of Spencer's work.
Biographical / Historical:
Spencer was a portrait and genre painter; New York, N.Y. and Ohio. She was born Angelique Marie Martin November 26, 1822, in England to French parents, Giles and Angelique Martin, followers of the French social critic, Charles Fourier. Upon emigrating to the U.S. in 1830, and moving to Marietta, Ohio in 1833, the Martins, along with others active in the cooperative movement organized a communal association, Trumbull Phalanx, near Braceville, Ohio in 1845, and became active in women's rights and other reform movements. Spencer chose to concentrate on painting, first in Cincinatti and then in New York in 1848 with her husband Benjamin Rush Spencer, a cloth merchant. She maintained a successful painting career while raising seven children and moving several times, to Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, Newark, N.J., and Highlands and Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Spencer died May 22, 1902.
Provenance:
Lent for filming 1971 by Campus Martius Museum, Ohio Historical Society.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
One letter to Maria Bartow Cole, from London; and a letter to Jasper Cropsey, October 14, 1847.
Biographical / Historical:
Portrait, landscape and genre painter, watercolorist and enameler; New York, N.Y. Born in Scotland.
Provenance:
Donated 1954 by Francis W. Robinson.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Five pencil drawings (2 signed), one pen, ink and watercolor drawing, and one watercolor drawing by William Sidney Mount; and a pencil drawing by Shepard Alonzo Mount; 13 letters and 2 notes written by William Sidney Mount, and letters written by his brothers Shepard, Robert, and Henry, his mother Julia, many which mention William, and 5 letters from Thomas S. Mount to William. In addition, there are clippings, diplomas and a photograph of William S. Mount.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter; Stony Brook, Long Island. Born Setauket, L.I. to Thomas Shephard and Julia Hawkins Mount. Studied at National Academy of Design and with Henry Inman. Importance as an early genre painter. His three brothers and sister Ruth were also artistic and musical.
Provenance:
Collection purchased by Theodore Stebbins, Jr. and lent to AAA for microfilming, December 1967.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- Stony Brook Search this
A scrapbook of clippings, letters, engravings and photographs.
Biographical / Historical:
Genre painter; New York City and Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. Born in Dunmanway, Ireland. He came to New York City in 1863. Elected a member of the National Academy in 1882. Exhibited at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming, 1954, by Mrs. Livingston Corson.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Genre painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Plymouth Meeting Search this
Topic:
Genre painting -- 19th century -- United States Search this
To "Dear Ames," presumably artist Joseph Alexander Ames, written from Newburgh, N.Y. Brown thanks Ames for drawing paper received, and makes additional requests for other supplies; he also invites him to "come up and make us a visit" [from New York City to Newburgh].
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptor; New York City and New York State, Washington, D.C. Ames was a portrait and genre painter, New York, N.Y. Both members of the National Academy of Design.
Provenance:
Donated 1955-1962 by Charles E. Feinberg. Feinberg was a long time friend and active donor to AAA.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
