Drawn to Lilly Martin Spencer

Celebrating the renowned artist with a comic about her life and work

A photograph of Howard Kaplan on a plane.
Howard Kaplan
Writer
July 31, 2023
A woman in a long blue dress sits at an easel and paints a scene of a woman in a long gown.

Cover of the comic, "Lilly Martin Spencer: A Woman's Place is in the Studio." Illustration by Suzy Sulzer

Lilly Martin Spencer's genre paintings of domestic scenes were filled with humor. She was the breadwinner for the family, making and selling paintings, while her husband stayed home with the children.

This comic is part of a series Drawn to Art: Tales of Inspiring Women Artists that illuminates the stories of women artists in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Inspired by graphic novels, these short takes on artists’ lives were each drawn by a student-illustrator from the Ringling College of Art and Design.

We invite you to read the comic and share it with your friends and young people in your life.

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