| Description |
Lilly Martin Spencer was one of the foremost American female painters of the nineteenth century. Having built her career on domestic genre painting using the language of sentiment to communicate with her audience, her large allegorical work Truth Unveiling Falsehood signified a departure into a new style and afforded Spencer the opportunity to become more politically engaged. This multifigure painting speaks directly about the situation many women faced in nineteenth-century America as they struggled to negotiate the obligations they felt at home with the rising suffrage movement which encouraged them to become more publicly involvedTruth Unveiling Falsehood resonated with Spencer's audience on a personal level as well as with Spencer herself. As the main source of income for a large household, Spencer found herself perpetually tom between the responsibilities of home and family and the necessity to provide for that family. Truth Unveiling Falsehood became a way for Spencer to negotiate her own situation, just as women across the country were struggling to understand their place within the shifting gender ideologies of the nineteenth century. |
