"A brief, intense celebration"

Such is how the famed painter once described her life in her journal.  And, indeed, Paula Modersohn-Becker, who was born in Dresden in 1876, did lead an extraordinary life.  She was one of the few women in the artists’ community Worpswede, near Bremen, and is even viewed today as its most renowned representative.

However, in contrast to many other Worpswede artists, Modersohn-Becker did not seek rural seclusion; rather, she needed contact with the outside world to evolve artistically.  The source of her inspiration was Paris, center of the art world at that time.  She was able to assert herself against much opposition from, among others, her husband, the Worpswede painter Otto Modersohn, in order to see the works of Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Cézanne and meet the sculptor Auguste Rodin in Paris. 

Modersohn-Becker, who was able to sell only very few paintings during her lifetime, is now known as one of the most important German women artists of the 20th century. 

Several exhibitions in Germany are currently paying tribute to her.  Among others, the Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum in Bremen is now showing the exhibition “Paul Modersohn-Becker and the Egyptian Mummy Portraits.”  Meanwhile, at the Kunsthalle Bremen, the “Paula in Paris” exhibition highlights how her work was touched by artistic life in Paris around 1900.