An accessible and in-depth study of Paula Moderson-Becker’s final self-portrait, the earliest painting by a woman on view in MoMA’s collection galleries

Paula Modersohn-Becker painted her last self-portrait in autumn 1907, while she was pregnant with her first child. In the painting she gazes straight at the viewer, holding up two flowers – symbols of the creativity and procreativity of women artists – and resting a protective hand atop her swelling belly. Modersohn-Becker would die three weeks after giving birth, aged just thirty-one, still to be recognized as the first woman artist to challenge centuries of representations of the female body. Today this compelling work claims an important place at The Museum of Modern Art as the earliest painting by a woman on view in the collection galleries. Art historian Diane Radycki’s essay examines Modersohn-Becker’s self-portrait in depth, surveys the artist’s late career, and discusses her posthumous recognition.