# We Both Must Fade (Mrs. Fithian), in Lilly Martin Spencer

Lilly Martin Spencer painted this in 1869, aged 47. It is now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.

From the museum's label:

> Mrs. Fithian stands before a mirror, admiring the tokens that others have given in praise of her beauty. She wears lace and pearls, and a blue gown that has just been taken from its box. But like the rose in her hand with its falling petals, her beauty will fade, and with it, all the pleasures the world can provide.

_Text from the Smithsonian American Art Museum._

[Read the full label](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/we-both-must-fade-mrs-fithian-si-saam-1970-101#about-work)

## The work

- Date: 1869
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 72 x 53 3/4 in. (182.9 x 136.5 cm.)
- Type: Painting
- Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1970.101
- Licence: CC0 1.0

## The artist

[Lilly Martin Spencer](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/lilly-martin-spencer), 1822–1902

2 works in the collection.

## Walk on

- [Lilly Martin Spencer's contemporaries](https://www.ochreeditions.com/galleries/artist/contemporaries-of-lilly-martin-spencer?hang=749) (8 works)
- [More American Gilded Age](https://www.ochreeditions.com/galleries/style/american-gilded-age?hang=749) (67 works)
- [19th-century United States](https://www.ochreeditions.com/galleries/era/19-united-states?hang=749) (198 works)

## Get it

- [Print this work](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/we-both-must-fade-mrs-fithian-si-saam-1970-101#print)
- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1938.jpg?dl=1
- [The work's page](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/we-both-must-fade-mrs-fithian-si-saam-1970-101)