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This Little Pig Went to Market
Lilly Martin Spencer (American, born England, 1822–1902)
c. 1857
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- 61 × 50.8 cm (24 × 20 in.)
- Culture
- United States
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of the Americas
- Credit line
- Roger and J. Peter McCormick Endowment Fund; through prior acquisition of George F. Harding Collection; through prior gift of Chicago Normal School Alumni
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
Lilly Martin Spencer positioned women at the center of her vivid portrayals of the everyday activities of white, urban, middle-class households like her own. This Little Pig Went to Market features a mother and child (modeled by the artist and her son William Henry) reciting a playful nursery rhyme. The game celebrates their emotional bond while also hinting at the larger world that the boy will eventually join.
Establishing herself professionally in Cincinnati and relocating to New York in 1848, Spencer supported her large family with her art. One of the most popular US artists of the mid-19th century, she worked hard throughout her career to translate this success into financial security.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
