Jens Plum (1926 – 2002 ) was born in Rochester, NY. He studied at Art School, Copenhagen, Denmark (1947-1949), at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI  (1952-1954; B.F.A.), and Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI (1954-1956; MFA). He taught at the University of Detroit (1956-1963) and the Department of Arts, Michigan State University (1963-1991).

At  Wayne State University, Plum met Robert Wilbert, a major figure of Detroit’s creative art community. Milton Avery was another source of inspiration since, in the Fifties,  Avery’s paintings were sold at the Donald Morris Gallery in Detroit. In Florida, Plum took a workshop with Janet Fish. Traveling internationally with his wife, Plum visited the  Giorgio Morandi museum in Bologna Italy. Like Morandi, Plum had a number of artifacts that he rearranged for his still lifes.

Plums had numerous national and regional exhibitions and One-Person-Shows. His paintings are part of permanent collections, for example, at Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, MI and Wayne State University, Detroit, MI;

Together with his wife, Nancy Plum, Jens made a treasured contribution to the vibrant Lansing area art community.

The first and third picture shown here were captured by me with Nancy Plum’s permission in her late husband’s studio. The second picture came from a photo collection of Jens Plum’s paintings that Nancy made available to me.