Paula Modersohn-Becker: A Pioneer of Expressionism

Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876-1907) was a German painter and a key precursor to Expressionism. Born in Dresden, she studied in Berlin and later joined the Worpswede artist colony, where she focused on human physiognomy using charcoal. Her work, characterized by expressive color and sensitivity, was later deemed 'degenerate' by the Nazis and included in the 1937 Munich exhibition. She traveled to Paris four times (1900, 1903, 1905, 1906-1907), where she was influenced by Paul Cézanne and Auguste Rodin, studying at the Académie Colarossi. Her friendship with poet Rainer Maria Rilke, who wrote a requiem for her, was significant. Modersohn-Becker's subjects included self-portraits, maternities, landscapes, and children, whom she depicted with serious, melancholic expressions. Her final year was her most productive, producing over twenty self-portraits. She died shortly after childbirth. Her work is held in museums such as the Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum in Bremen and the Hamburger Kunsthalle.