Extraordinary Gifts: Selected Paintings from The Procter and Gamble Collection at the Cincinnati Art Museum February 15, 2003 to September 12, 2004 Extraordinary Gifts: Selected Paintings from The Procter and Gamble Collection at the Cincinnati Art Museum Cincinnati Art Museum logo
A Word from P&G - Overview of Extraordinary Gifts: Selected Paintings from The Procter and Gamble Collection at the Cincinnati Art Museum Cincinnati Painters and the Big Picture - discusses how Cincinnati Artists fit into a larger art historical perspective The Works from The P&G Collection - themed galleries of the works in the show Index by Artist Name - a list of all the artists represented in the show and the works they completed Go back to the Cincinnati Art Museum Home page
Lilly Martin Spencer (1822–1902)
The Dogged Class, 1885
oil on canvas
36 x 48 1/4 in.

   The most famous woman artist in America during the 1860s and 1870s, Spencer came to Cincinnati as a young girl to start her career as a painter. Rejecting offers to study abroad, Spencer chose to stay in Cincinnati for her education. She was immediately impressed with the work of James H. Beard (see his work nearby), and eagerly sought his help. Spencer was known for painting genre scenes, or images of everyday life. Such views were immensely popular in the late nineteenth century, and often her works were reproduced as prints for wider circulation. Spencer also painted animals; perhaps borrowing inspiration from Beard, whose animal pictures were widely known. Painted late in her career, The Dogged Class depicts a sumptuously dressed girl leading her “pupils” in a lesson of discipline. Her dogs seem to take on human reactions and feelings, as their attentive expressions lend humor to the scene.