On the River
by Bertha Lum
- Date:
- 1912
- Medium:
- Color woodcut
- Dimensions:
- 26 × 44.8 cm
- Source:
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
by Bertha Lum
$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.
Life on the river comes into focus in this 1912 color woodcut, where Lum turns her attention to the waterways that served as arteries of transportation and commerce throughout Japan. Rivers provided Lum with subjects rich in visual interest: the interplay of boats, reflections, bridges, and riverbank activity created natural compositions full of movement and variety. Her treatment balances the descriptive — specific details of boat construction, the posture of figures poling or rowing — with the decorative, as water patterns and reflected colors become abstract elements within the print. The 1912 date places this among her most productive years, when she was creating a steady stream of color woodcuts drawn from her Japanese observations.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
On the River was created by Bertha Lum in 1912.
On the River depicts landscapes and rivers & lakes.
On the River measures 26 × 44.8 cm.
