  About the Artwork
  
  
  Paula Modersohn-Becker made the human figure her primary subject. Attracted by the simplicity of rural life in the northern German village of Worpswede, she began a series of paintings of peasants from the area. She selected her models, including the subject of this painting, from a local poorhouse and returned to the same individuals over the years. In this portrait, Modersohn-Becker imbued her sitter with an unusual dignity and repose given her place in society.   

Early on, Modersohn-Becker described her stylistic development as a move toward a radical simplification of forms: “As far back as I can remember I have tried to put the simplicity of nature into the heads that I was painting or drawing.” In 1906–7, on the last of four trips to Paris, she deepened her knowledge of the French avant-garde, including paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin. Absorbing the innovations of these artists, Modersohn-Becker rendered this model in spare, monumental forms defined by expressive color, which anticipated a style that would soon be known as expressionism.  
  
  
  Title
  Old Peasant Woman
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1907
  
  Artist
  Paula Modersohn-Becker
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1876-1907
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  German
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Oil on canvas
  
  
  Dimensions
  Unframed: 29 3/4 × 22 3/4 inches (75.6 × 57.8 cm)
  Framed: 34 5/8 × 27 1/4 × 3 7/16 inches (87.9 × 69.2 × 8.7 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  European Modern Art to 1970
  
  
  Credit
  Gift of Robert H. Tannahill
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  58.385
  
  
  Copyright
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