Genre and Still Life Painting

Lilly Martin Spencer (1822–1902)
The Home of the Red, White, and Blue, c. 1867–68
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.
Genre and Still Life Painting

Eastman Johnson (1824–1906)
Fiddling His Way, c. 1866

Lilly Martin Spencer (1822–1902)
The Home of the Red, White, and Blue, c. 1867–68

William Sidney Mount (1807–1868)
Fruit Piece: Apples on Tin Cups, 1864

Winslow Homer (1836–1910)
Apple Picking, 1878

William Sidney Mount (1807–1868)
The Trap Sprung, 1844

Robert Spear Dunning (1829–1905)
Harvest of Cherries, 1866

Samuel Colman, Jr. (1832–1920)
Ships Unloading, New York, 1868

John George Brown (1831–1913)
Picnic Party in the Woods, 1872

Martin Johnson Heade (1819–1904)
Still Life with Apple Blossoms in a Nautilus Shell, 1870

Thomas Waterman Wood (1783–1872)
The Yankee Pedlar, 1872

George Caleb Bingham (1811–1879)
The Jolly Flatboatmen, 1877–78

John Haberle (1853–1933)
One Dollar Bill, 1890

Winslow Homer (1836–1910)
The Whittling Boy, 1873

John Frederick Peto (1854–1907)
Old Time Letter Rack, 1894