Framboises
c. 1859
Bursting with juicy, ripe red berries and lush green foliage, this oval canvas offers a mouth-watering glimpse into 19th-century American still life. Lilly Martin Spencer, a trailblazing female artist who supported her large family through her art, painted these raspberries around 1859 with incredible realism. Notice how the berries seem to spill over the rough wooden log, almost begging to be plucked and eaten! Spencer was one of the most popular painters of her time in the United States, proving that domestic subjects like fruit and family life could be high art.