$1,000–$8,000. Common subjects: $1,000–$2,500. Key value factors: Bertha Lum's status as a pioneering Western woodblock printmaker gives her work historical value. Her Art Nouveau-influenced prints are particularly sought after.
Created in 1912, this color woodcut captures boys flying kites, a subject drawn from the everyday life Lum observed during her extended stays in Japan. Kite flying held cultural significance beyond simple play — certain festivals featured elaborate kites as ceremonial objects, and boys' kite competitions were a spring tradition. Lum renders the scene with the flat color areas and bold outlines she absorbed from Japanese printmaking, but her compositional sensibility retains a Western eye for narrative detail. The upward movement of kites against sky creates a dynamic vertical energy, while the grounded figures of the boys anchor the composition below. The 1912 date places this among a productive cluster of prints Lum made during her second extended stay in Japan, when her command of the medium had fully matured.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Boys and Kites was created by Bertha Lum in 1912.
Boys and Kites depicts figures, children, and daily life.
Boys and Kites measures 23.7 × 33.5 cm.
