Mary Bartlett Pillsbury Weston

Mary Bartlett Pillsbury Weston (January 5, 1817 – April 25, 1895) was an American painter of the 19th century. She was a landscape and portrait painter, known for her works such as “The Spirit of Kansas.” As a child she had always wanted to be an artist, even attempting to run away two times to pursue a career in art. As a young adult she met Valentine Weston and they moved to New York, so that he could help her become an artist. After three months of living together in New York they got married in 1840, where she lived until her husband died in 1863; she then moved to Lawrence, Kansas, in 1873.