Sisters
by Bertha Lum
- Date:
- 1907
- Medium:
- Color woodcut
- Dimensions:
- 38.9 × 7.8 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.
Two female figures, presumably sisters, appear in this 1907 color woodcut from a period when Lum was deeply engaged with Japanese subjects and techniques. The pairing of two figures allows for compositional interplay — similarities and differences in dress, posture, and expression create a visual dialogue within the frame. Lum's treatment of female figures in her Japanese-period work balances observation with stylization, absorbing the conventions of bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women) while filtering them through her own sensibility as a Western woman artist working in Meiji Japan. The relationship between the two sisters — conveyed through proximity, shared gesture, or mirrored stance — gives the print a narrative warmth that extends beyond purely decorative concerns.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Sisters was created by Bertha Lum in 1907.
Sisters depicts figures and bijin-ga.
Sisters measures 38.9 × 7.8 cm.
