Collections: American Art: Rain

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Rain

Characteristic features of Japanese art that Bertha Lum incorporated in this landscape include the strong diagonal composition, dramatic leap frorn foreground to background, and focus on vveather conditions. She also adopted traditional Japanese printing techniques, often employing native craftsmen to assist her. For instance, the hand-painting of the woodblocks (different blocks would be used for different colors) create subtle gradations of hue—particularly noticeable in the sky and sea—and a unique impression for each print.

• Artist: Bertha Lum, American, 1879-1954
• Medium: Color woodcut on cream, thin, Japanese wove paper
• Dates: 1908
• Dimensions: Sheet: 11 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. (29.2 x 16.5 cm) Image: 11 x 6 5/16 in. (27.9 x 16 cm)
• Signature: Signed along bottom edge in pencil: "Copyright 1908 by / Bertha Lum / No / 1[9?]0"
• Collections: American Art
• Museum Location: This item is not on view
• Accession Number: 63.108.2
• Credit Line: Gift of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts
• Image: Overall, 63.108.2_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Bertha Lum (American, 1879-1954). Rain, 1908. Color woodcut on cream, thin, Japanese wove paper, Sheet: 11 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. (29.2 x 16.5 cm) Image: 11 x 6 5/16 in. (27.9 x 16 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, 63.108.2 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 63.108.2_PS1.jpg)