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Garden’s Bounty
Samuel L. Gerry (1813–91)
Signed and dated, lower left: “S. L. Gerry. / 1837”
Oil on wood panel (16 3/8 x 24 in.)
Collection of Gary Langenbach
This early example of a still life descended in the family of Gerry’s sister Catharine Atkins Gerry Blanchard. Her descendants called the painting Garden’s Bounty, although it is unknown if this was the name Gerry gave to his work. More than 20 of Gerry’s still life paintings survive today, featuring natural and man-made objects or floral compositions. Although he was not particularly known for his still lifes, he seems to have been very competent in the genre. A newspaper editor in Maine once said Gerry’s depiction of fruit “makes one’s mouth water.”
