Temple Gate
by Bertha Lum
- Date:
- 1912
- Medium:
- Color woodcut
- Dimensions:
- 25.2 × 12.5 cm
- Source:
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
by Bertha Lum
$1,000–$8,000. Temple scenes are among the most popular subjects for this artist. Good figure/landscape prints: $2,500–$5,000. 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.
A temple gate rises in this 1912 color woodcut, the architectural structure serving as both subject and frame within the composition. Temple gates (mon) in Japan range from modest wooden structures at neighborhood shrines to the massive two-story gates of major Buddhist complexes, and each carries symbolic meaning as a threshold between mundane and sacred space. Lum's rendering emphasizes the gate's architectural solidity — its posts, beams, and roof creating strong geometric forms — while using the passage through the gate to suggest depth and invite the viewer's eye forward. The color woodcut technique handles architecture well, its clean edges and flat color areas echoing the rectilinear forms of traditional Japanese construction. This print connects to a broader tradition of architectural subjects in Japanese printmaking.
伏見稲荷
Woodblock print
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
Uji Byodoin no ichibu
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Temple Gate was created by Bertha Lum in 1912.
Temple Gate depicts temples & shrines and architecture.
Temple Gate measures 25.2 × 12.5 cm.
