Bertha Lum

Born in Iowa, Lum studied at the Art Institute and with Frank Holme of the Chicago School of Illustration. Her honeymoon took her to Japan, where she became fascinated with woodblock printing. She purchased tools and attempted, with limited success, to teach herself the medium. She returned to Japan in 1907, and studied in the workshops of the block cutter Iagmi Bonkotsu and the printer Nishimura Kamakichi. She continued to travel to Japan and eventually took up residence in China in the 1920s. Her work was exhibited and sold in California, Tokyo, and Peking during her lifetime.