Respect!
Paula Modersohn-Becker often painted women from rural backgrounds or from the poorhouse in Worpswede. Her works reveal her intense engagement with this situation. One senses both closeness and distance, sympathy and observation. The young painter was aware of the social divide between herself and her models and expressed her discomfort about it.
The exhibition focuses on Paula Modersohn-Becker’s impressive semi-nude portrait of a seated peasant woman and explores precisely this question. How do artists actually relate to the people they portray? What attitudes are reflected in the depictions, both then and now?
Since the portrait of the farmer’s wife, the artistic view of social roles, power structures, and the relationship between humans and nature has changed. The exhibition makes these changes visible—and even audible—in an exciting way.
Images:
- Paula Modersohn-Becker, Semi-nude portrait of a seated peasant woman, ca. 1900, oil and tempera on canvas, Federal Republic of Germany, State of Lower Saxony, Osterholz District, on permanent loan to the Grosse Kunstschau , Osterholz District Cultural Foundation, Photo: © Worpsweder Museum Alliance
- Cihan Cakmak, from the series *When We Leave*, 2019, photograph, Osterholz District, on permanent loan to the Grosse Kunstschau , Osterholz District Cultural Foundation, Photo: © Cihan Cakmak
- Lucila Pacheco Dehne, *Companion*, 2021, silicone, Osterholz District, on permanent loan to the Grosse Kunstschau , Osterholz District Cultural Foundation, Photo: © Lucila Pacheco Dehne
