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Bertha Lum
1869–1954
BirthplaceTipton, Iowa, United States of America
Death placeGenoa, Italy
BiographyBertha Lum ranks among the important twentieth-century American printmakers who were inspired by Asian culture, particularly the style and masterful technique of Japanese prints. Born Bertha Boynton Bull and raised in Iowa and Minnesota, Lum began her formal art education in 1895 at the Art Institute of Chicago's prestigious school, where she studied design and later, in 1901, figure drawing. She also received training from newspaper illustrator and printmaker Frank Holme (1868–1904). Lum's aesthetic sensibilities were further shaped by the display of Japanese prints she saw at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and by Arthur Wesley Dow's influential textbook Composition (1899), which promoted Japanese color woodcuts as models. In 1903, she married Burt Lum, a Minneapolis lawyer. During their honeymoon trip to Japan, the aspiring artist collected ukiyo-e woodcut prints and sought out artisans practicing traditional printmaking techniques. In 1904, Lum made her first prints inspired by Japan and its graphic tradition.
Lum returned to Tokyo in 1907 and spent two months studying with master block cutter Bonkotsu Igami (1875–1933), followed by extensive lessons with master printers on intricate Japanese color printing technique. In 1911, Lum, accompanied by her two daughters, again traveled to Japan to work with master cutters and printers in making print editions using traditional techniques. In 1912, she was the only foreign artist included in the Tenth Annual Art Exhibition in Ueno Park, Tokyo, where her works were admired for their distinctive blending of Western and Japanese styles. Successful solo exhibitions at Chicago and New York galleries followed. At the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, Lum's prints received a silver medal; she was recognized among other awardees who excelled in color printmaking, namely Gustave Baumann, Helen Hyde, and Dow. Until 1933 (and intermittently thereafter), Lum's color woodcuts were exhibited to acclaim in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
Lum lived alternately in the United States and abroad, returning to Japan in 1915–16, 1919, and 1936 to make prints. Lum was divorced by the early or mid-twenties. From 1922 to 1924, she lived with her daughters in China, where she learned Chinese printmaking methods and created images inspired by Chinese scenes. In 1927-29, throughout much of the 1930s (when the Great Depression hindered print sales), and again in 1948–1953, Lum lived in Peking (today Beijing), even as government policies threatened Westerners. After enduring house arrest and the execution of her son-in-law by the Communists, Lum joined her daughter's family in Genoa, Italy. She died there several months later, leaving a graphic legacy of 158 color woodcuts in addition to watercolors and illustrations.
Lum returned to Tokyo in 1907 and spent two months studying with master block cutter Bonkotsu Igami (1875–1933), followed by extensive lessons with master printers on intricate Japanese color printing technique. In 1911, Lum, accompanied by her two daughters, again traveled to Japan to work with master cutters and printers in making print editions using traditional techniques. In 1912, she was the only foreign artist included in the Tenth Annual Art Exhibition in Ueno Park, Tokyo, where her works were admired for their distinctive blending of Western and Japanese styles. Successful solo exhibitions at Chicago and New York galleries followed. At the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, Lum's prints received a silver medal; she was recognized among other awardees who excelled in color printmaking, namely Gustave Baumann, Helen Hyde, and Dow. Until 1933 (and intermittently thereafter), Lum's color woodcuts were exhibited to acclaim in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
Lum lived alternately in the United States and abroad, returning to Japan in 1915–16, 1919, and 1936 to make prints. Lum was divorced by the early or mid-twenties. From 1922 to 1924, she lived with her daughters in China, where she learned Chinese printmaking methods and created images inspired by Chinese scenes. In 1927-29, throughout much of the 1930s (when the Great Depression hindered print sales), and again in 1948–1953, Lum lived in Peking (today Beijing), even as government policies threatened Westerners. After enduring house arrest and the execution of her son-in-law by the Communists, Lum joined her daughter's family in Genoa, Italy. She died there several months later, leaving a graphic legacy of 158 color woodcuts in addition to watercolors and illustrations.