WORK OF THE WEEK: Paula Modersohn-Becker, Infant, Breastfeeding, 1904

Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876-1907) was a pioneer of modern art in Europe and possibly the first woman to paint a full-length nude self-portrait. With simplified forms, earthy colours, and visceral impasto textures, Modersohn-Becker painted landscapes, interiors, and still lifes, though for me, her most poignant works are of mothers and their children. I have recently become a grandmother and so this work of a mother breastfeeding has particular resonance in its extraordinary intimacy and tenderness. It is heartbreaking too, as Modersohn-Becker died in childbirth in 1907; she died of complications just 20 days after giving birth to a daughter. She was just 31 years old.

In the 15 short years when she was able to pursue her art, Modersohn-Becker produced more than 700 paintings and 1,000 drawings and prints. Despite selling only a few paintings during her lifetime, her distinct style, her perseverance in overcoming considerable barriers to women artists, and daring subject matter made her a leading artist of her generation. Undeterred by the paltry recognition she received, she felt she had made a major leap forward with her large-scale nudes and self-portraits, writing that through this body of work, “I will make something of myself.”

In November 2022 she will be one of the artists featured in the Royal Academy’s exhibition, Making Modernism, devoted to the trail-blazing women artists working in Germany in the early 1900s.