Images
https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=B27655ACFFF2B6A6D14980B9ACC9A4349AA16F938228F90D8C1800F894F620EB&s=24247294&se=1927032053&v=0&f=1973.35_o2.jpg
https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=8C819BF33816A61A4AFCC2E8518DD2A3B3E3CA0479C07C58298C0888D305C553&s=24247294&se=1927032053&v=3&f=1973.35_o2.jpg
Dec 20, 2013
Seated Female Nude (Self-Portrait?)
Seated Female Nude (Self-Portrait?)
c. 1899
Paula Modersohn-Becker
(German, 1876–1907)
Charcoal with stumping
Support: Beige(1) modern laid paper
Sheet: 62.2 x 33.9 cm (24 1/2 x 13 3/8 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1973.35
Location
Download and Share
Did you know?
Paula Modersohn-Becker's career was extremely brief but prolific before dying from complications of childbirth at age 31.
Description
Although Paula Modersohn-Becker died in 1907, just as the Expressionist groups in Dresden and Munich were forming, the themes of her work prefigure the movement. This likely self-portrait exhibits her desire to convey not the idealized appearance of the female body but rather its fundamental essence, stripped of all the world’s trappings. She distilled the human body into flattened forms—achieved by erasing and blending the charcoal—and abbreviated the delineation of the feet, hands, and face. The sitter’s piercing stare invites the viewer to move beyond the body as flesh and blood toward her emotional or spiritual state.
Contact us
The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email [email protected].
To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.
All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, a detail image, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.