The Pagoda

A pagoda rises through the composition of this 1909 color woodcut, its stacked tiers creating the strong vertical rhythm that makes pagodas among the most visually compelling subjects in Asian art. Japanese pagodas, derived from the Chinese form and ultimately from the Indian stupa, serve as Buddhist reliquary structures, and their distinctive silhouettes anchor temple complexes across the country. Lum responds to the pagoda's graphic potential — its repeating horizontal eaves, tapering profile, and crowning finial form a natural subject for the woodblock medium, where architectural lines can be carved with crispness and each tier printed in subtly different tones. The 1909 date places this in Lum's established period, when she was producing confidently and exhibiting regularly in both American and European venues.