Cleveland born Adam Lehr trained as a house and sign painter as a young man though soon gained more formal training under American painter Archibald Willard, a family friend and author of the famous The Spirit of ’76. In 1880 Lehr departed, with financial assistance from a local merchant, for New York where he studied at the Art Students League for a year. Returning to Cleveland in 1881 Lehr began exhibiting regularly at Cleveland’s Brush and Palette Club, the Watercolor Society, and the Cleveland Society of Artist’s. Known primarily as a still-life and landscape painter, he was a founder of the Cleveland Art Club, comprised of a group of prominent artists who taught at the Academy of Art. Lehr exhibited regularly throughout his life though often supplemented his income with commercial painting.
American still life painting is a fascinating and rare subject. In comparison to European still lifes, Americans exhibited a sparer, humble style and though tables overflowing with fruits, fish, and flowers were not a favorite amongst Americans, Lehr excelled at the genre. Lehr forgoes an English title with this painting, channeling his European counterparts, and opts for the French Les Gros Prunes (Big Plums). This particular painting can be compared to the works of Levi Wells Prentice, who commonly painted various fruits spilling forth from a container. It was a way to paint a large group of fruit in an informal and out-of-doors setting. Lehr has done it beautifully, capturing the texture of the plums in a realistic manner.