"And now I don’t know how to sign my name. I am not Modersohn and I am not Paula Becker anymore, I am Me, and hope to become that more and more." Those words, spoken in 1906 by a recently wed young artist to her closest friend, the poet Ranier Maria Rilke, were prophetic.  “I am Me.” Such self-discovery in one artist’s tragically short life ushered in one of the most important art movements of the 20th century.

“Paula Modersohn-Becker: Ich bin Ich / I Am Me” organized by Neue Galerie New York and the Art Institute of Chicago marks the first full-scale presentation devoted to the artist in this country. During her brief life (February 8, 1876-November 20, 1907), cut short at the young age of 31 because of a postpartum embolism, Modersohn-Becker produced more than 700 paintings and over a thousand drawings. She is acclaimed for the many self-portraits she created, including the first nude self-portraits known to have been made by a woman and certainly the first self-portrait during pregnancy.  (Self-Portrait at 6^th Wedding Anniversary is such a pose, a glowing example of the artist at the apex of her short career.)

Upon entering the Neue Galerie’s landmark building at 86^th and Fifth Avenue in New York City, completed in 1914 by the prestigious firm of Carrere & Hastings (the same architects of the New York Public Library), I am immediately struck by the self-portrait of Modersohn-Becker on the upper landing.  It is only one of several that will give me pause during my visit.  The face, with those extraordinarily large eyes, will retain a down-to-earth yet mysterious hold, at once mercilessly direct and yet vacuous, as universal as an Egyptian funerary mask.

Simplicity is a key ingredient here. And it’s a quality that often doesn’t appear in an artist’s journey until mid- to late career.  A favorite discovery was Girl with Yellow Wreath and Daisy from 1901. The subject, hands clasped around a lone flower, is both ordinary and angelic. Another powerful, yet still endearing work features a nursing scene, but it is the placement of orange globular shapes—the baby’s ruddy cheek, the mother’s nipple, and the fruit lying arbitrarily about the ground—that elevate the work.

The young Paula, thanks to prosperous and agreeable parents, received the training that jumpstarted her on the road to becoming the “me” she dreamed of. In 1888, the family moved from Dresden to Bremen, interacting with local artistic and intellectual circles, and she began to seriously draw. Assorted teachers and two years in a teacher’s seminary at her father’s insistence followed. By the age of 16, she set up her own studio at her parents’ home. One exhibition room features her large charcoal studies of farm workers, portraits that reveal a hard-won dignity.  Their inclusion is a treat as such sketches on this monumental scale are rare. These portraits also include nude studies of young girls, sometimes posed in the awkwardness of adolescence. A wall notation tells the viewer than when the artist approached a girl to pose, the child retorted “Oh, no, I ain’t doin’ none of that.” 

As compelling as the portraits are, early exposure to works by Cezanne and Gauguin during brief Paris sojourns cemented her appreciation of color and form. Her still lifes bear a shocking resemblance to Cezanne’s finest. No mere exaggeration, as the muted yet forceful shapes, like her fulsome pumpkins from 1905, speak volumes.

Nature as a subject achieved a remarkable transcendence for the artist. Birches are depicted everywhere—a single trunk as the centerpiece, a stand of trees sharing the space with a herd of sheep, or as an exercise in perspective down a pastoral road. But where and why did Modersohn-Becker and her artistic circle attempt to create this perfect Eden for their artworks?

Escaping city life became the goal. In such a spirit, the colony of Worpswede was formed in Lower Saxony. Becker followed her future husband Otto Modersohn there, where writers and poets such as Thomas Mann and Rainer Maria Rilke, accompanied by his wife, the sculptor Clara Westhoff, were frequent residents. Westhoff was an early friend to the artist, particularly during Becker’s Paris stay when Westhoff was studying with Rodin.  (A beautiful bronze head of Becker is not to be missed in the exhibit.)

To understand the roots of German Expressionism, it helps to understand that after the foundation of the German Empire in 1871, Emperor William II was determined to honor his ancestors by approving every purchase of art for his Nationalgalerie. An academic traditionalism prevailed.  For young German artists, even some Impressionism—prodigiously collected by the former single states—became synonymous with a materialistic lifestyle. This led to a new longing for a different utopia, a spiritual oneness with nature. 

Paula Modersohn-Becker remains a difficult artist to define. A restless and inquisitive nature led to constant experimentation of her art.  Right up to the birth of her daughter Mathilde and her tragic passing days later, she was unsure if the timing for motherhood was right for her evolvement as an artist.  “What a pity,” were her last words.

“Paula Modersohn-Becker: Ich bin Ich / I Am Me” is on view at Neue Galerie through September 9, 2024.

Author Bio:

Sandra Bertrand is Highbrow Magazine’s chief art critic.

For Highbrow Magazine

--All images courtesy of the Neue Galerie