$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 1921 and printed on laid paper, "Mother West Wind" marks a departure from Lum's Asian subject matter into territory drawn from Western children's literature — specifically the popular "Mother West Wind" stories by American author Thornton W. Burgess. The personification of wind as a maternal figure allowed Lum to merge her Japanese-influenced printmaking technique with Western narrative content, creating a hybrid work that reflected her own bicultural artistic identity. The use of laid paper rather than Japanese washi gives this impression a different tactile quality, with the paper's visible chain lines adding texture beneath the printed image. By 1921, Lum had been working in the color woodcut medium for nearly two decades and could adapt it to subjects far removed from its Japanese origins.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Mother West Wind was created by Bertha Lum in 1921.
Mother West Wind depicts figures, mythology, and daily life.
