Genre and Still Life Painting

The Home of the Red, White, and Blue, c. 1867–68
Object-Lilly Martin Spencer, The Home of the Red, White, and Blue
One of America’s leading genre painters, Lilly Martin Spencer created images of middle-class domesticity that address shifting gender roles in nineteenth-century society. She couched Home of the Red, White, and Blue, an allegory of the state of the nation following the American Civil War (1861–65), in a benign scene of outdoor family recreation. The composition focuses on the three central female figures—Spencer, dressed in white, and two of her daughters—as they enjoy the antics of an organ grinder and his monkey. Relegated to the periphery are elderly family members, a nursemaid and baby, and a wounded Union Army veteran. Spencer and her teenage daughter wear thimbles on their fingers; they have been interrupted from their task of stitching together a battered American flag, a symbol of the physical and psychic devastation the war had wrought. The painting suggests that the future of a nation ravaged by conflict lies in the capable hands of women.
Learn more about this painting on the Terra Foundation website.
The Home of the Red, White, and Blue, c. 1867–68
Genre and Still Life Painting

Fiddling His Way, c. 1866

The Home of the Red, White, and Blue, c. 1867–68

Fruit Piece: Apples on Tin Cups, 1864

Apple Picking, 1878

The Trap Sprung, 1844

Harvest of Cherries, 1866

Ships Unloading, New York, 1868

Picnic Party in the Woods, 1872

Still Life with Apple Blossoms in a Nautilus Shell, 1870

The Yankee Pedlar, 1872

The Jolly Flatboatmen, 1877–78

One Dollar Bill, 1890

The Whittling Boy, 1873

Old Time Letter Rack, 1894