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1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, art, Frank R Paul Award Winner, Paul Lehr, science fiction
Paul Lehr (1930-98) studied at the prestigious Pratt Institute under Stanley Meltzoff, and while he did a number of great covers between 1954 and his death in 1998, I most associate his work with 1960s and 1970s science fiction. While not as surreal as Richard Powers’ art, Lehr moved towards a less-representational style in the late ’50s that became his trademark. His worlds are exotic and mercurial, a trippy haze of colors and shapes—strange egg-shaped objects, eyes and spheres, insignificant people in the shadow of some spaceship or monster, all awash in reds and greens and blues. I’m still surprised that despite several Hugo Award nominations, Lehr never won any. In fact, the only award I know that he won was the 1982 Frank R Paul Award. By the 1980s Lehr had progressed towards sculpture though he continued to produce book cover art during the ’80s and ’90s, until his death from Pancreatic cancer.
Below is a hodge-podge of his book covers and SF art; sadly I don’t have titles to all of them, and I’m not even sure if they were titled in the first place. Lehr did hundreds upon hundreds of book covers—ISFDB lists over 300 for science fiction book/magazine covers alone, not counting his covers for other genres, all of his interior art, and his non-cover artwork.
realthog said:
Oodles of thanks for this. I love and adore Lehr’s work, and very much wanted to publish a book of his art while I was at Paper Tiger . . . but It Was Not To Be, alas.
Yes, it’s shocking that he never picked up more awards. But it’s even more so that he doesn’t even have a Wikipedia entry.
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admiral.ironbombs said:
You’re welcome! (And you should see the forty I saved for future posts.) I noticed the lack of a Wikipedia page while researching… It’s sad that despite his many excellent works he never quite gets the acclaim or recognition he deserves. And a Paper Tiger artbook of Lehr would have been amazing, it would fit in nicely between the Powers and the di Fate on my shelf.
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unsubscriber said:
Ooh… Paul Lehr, ah yes. Another Lehr lover here and I too never cease to be amazed that he wasn’t nearly as well known as his peers. There’s something very ’70s progressive rock’ about his work for me that I find sets him apart. Maybe it’s the depth of colour, rich detailing, all those sensuous curves… I can’t put my finger on it. Paper Tiger would have been a very apt home for that artbook with all their Roger Dean / Yes / prog connections.
Great post with even greater pictures, excellent Sunday morning retina pleaser Admiral Ironbombs. Many thanks.
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admiral.ironbombs said:
Welcome! I love it when these high-res photos are available. I agree, Lehr would have made amazing album art for ’70s prog rock—hadn’t thought about that connection before but it is there.
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Bernie said:
Thankyou for pointing out a HUGE hole in my knowledge! I’m ashamed to say I’d never heard of Paul Lehr until now, though I’ve had at least one of those covers in my collection. I love them now I’ve seen them, and must seek out more information. I think Tim White may have been influenced by some of Lehr’s work.
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admiral.ironbombs said:
No worries, glad to raise awareness! 🙂 So many of his covers were on second- or third-run reprints so it’s easy to overlook them. I think you’re right, I see some Lehr influence and a lot of Roger Dean in Tim White’s art.
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Eliza_Mariah said:
Absolutely gorgeous
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