(1822–1902)
Spencer was born in Exeter, England, to French parents who immigrated to the United States in 1830, settling in Marietta, Ohio. It was there that Spencer had her first exhibition in 1841 and it was noted that “a new genius has sprung up at Marietta or rather within five miles of it, at a farm house in the shape of a French girl of 17 or 18 years of age. She already has painted a great number of pictures. She is entirely self-taught, excels in attitudes and designs.” Soon after, Spencer moved to Cincinnati where she remained for the following eight years working as a portrait and genre painter. Lured by the hope of better opportunity, Spencer moved to New York City with her husband and children, and within two years she was exhibiting at the National Academy of Design, where she was elected an honorary member. An article in Sartin’s Magazine in 1849 states that “her pictures are attracting much attention. The Art-Union has already purchased two of them.”
Spencer's own familial circle was uncommon for that era. Both of her parents made many sacrifices to promote her career, and her husband stayed at home to watch the children and to handle many of the domestic chores in order to make it possible for his wife to focus on her career. Although Spencer's work sold well, she was never-the-less confronted with stereotypes associated with her gender and criticized for her accomplishments. Although capable of a variety of subjects, Spencer found it necessary to paint interests and activities “appropriate” for her role as a woman, focusing on domestic scenes, and often using her own family as subjects for her works.
Spencer had a wide audience for her work, and many of her images were reproduced by Currier and Ives and other prominent lithography firms. She continued to paint up to the time of her death, producing at least 500 paintings throughout her career. Her works are found in prestigious private collections and institutions, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Newark Museum. Although the male-elitism of artists’ clubs such as the Century Association and the Union League discouraged many women artists, Spencer's perseverance and innate talent mark her as one of the few professional female artists of the mid-nineteenth century, making her a significant figure in the annals of American art history.