Detail of Young Husband: First Marketing by Lilly Martin Spencer in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, January 2022

Title: Young Husband: First Marketing

Artist: Lilly Martin Spencer (1822–1902)

Date: 1854

Culture: American

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 29 1/2 x 24 3/4 in. (74.9 x 62.9 cm)

Credit Line: Gift of Max N. Berry, 2015

Accession Number: 2015.401

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.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/21126