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Presentation #3“You Cannot Paint her too Beautiful for my Imagination”: Domesticity, Death, and Photography in 19th Century Portraiture
Portraiture is so often thought of as being a means to capture the image of a sitter determined to have his or her likeness preserved on canvas. However, not all sitters were alive. While not entirely new in the 19th century, the Victorian Age witnessed a unique culture of death with mourning portraiture being an important part of this culture. Lilly Martin Spencer, known for her reflections of 19th century domesticity, had a fairly lucrative career painting postmortem portraits. While she admitted that the new technology of photography threatened traditional portraiture, she was able to actually embrace this new technology to open new opportunities for revenue due to photography. Specifically, a painting in the Taubman Museum of Art’s collection will serve as the focus for how Spencer adapted to new technology and was able to remain relevant as an artist, finding a means to augment her household income and directly challenge the 19th century norms tied to domesticity so many of her portraits paradoxically reinforced.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
204 Draper Rd SW, Blacksburg, VA, United States, Virginia 24060
