Tan Shi Sou, White Snake Temple by Bertha Lum

Tan Shi Sou, White Snake Temple by Bertha Lum

Tan Shi Sou, White Snake Temple

Bertha Lum

Title

Tan Shi Sou, White Snake Temple

 
Artist

Bertha Lum

  1869 - 1954 (biography)
Year
1924  
Technique
raised-line, hand colored woodcut 
Image Size
13 7/8 x 10 1/8" image 
Signature
unsigned 
Edition Size
unstated; variant edition 
Annotations
 
Reference
Gravalos Pulin no. 84; illustrated page 43 
Paper
heavy hand made pulped paper 
State
 
Publisher
artist 
Inventory ID
CAAL159 
Price
SOLD
Description

Bertha Lum was fascinated by the legends and mythology of the Orient and wrote extensively about them. These legends provided the subject matter for many of her works in woodcut.

Also known as 'Temple, Peking' the color woodcut by Bertha Lum was done in an edition of at least 45 impressions. She was in China on her sixth trip (1922-1924) to the Orient and her first trip to Peking where she studied Chinese woodblock printing and where she developed her "raised line" technique, such as this print.

Lum would use the black "key block", printed on a sheet of thin Japanese paper and then attached to a new block. The black lines are then cut 'into' the block so they are intaglio rather than relief, like the first woodcut. Thin sheets of Oriental papers are then forced into the incised lines and a pulp is poured to strengthen the sheet.

As the paper dries it shrinks and releases from the block (essentially a cast of the surface). The resultant Key Block lines are standing in relief. They are then inked with a black ink, which defines the composition. Lum then colors the surrounding areas with gouache. Each impression is uniquely colored. Because of this the image is reversed from the color woodcut.

As an aside, when the Annex did a Lum show about 40 years ago Lum's great niece came up from Los Angeles. She told us her mother, Lum's cousin, was blind and used to receive these "raised line" works from Bertha so her mother could "see" what she was doing in the Orient. Draw your own conclusions.

The Legend of the White Snake, also known as 'Madame White Snake', is a Chinese legend which existed in oral tradition long before any written compilation. It has since been presented in a number of major Chinese operas, films and television series. This is one of the temples in Peking that is associated with the legend.