# Seated Female Nude (Self-Portrait?)

**Paula Modersohn-Becker** (German, 1876–1907)  
c. 1899  
charcoal with stumping  
Sheet: 62.2 x 33.9 cm (24 1/2 x 13 3/8 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1973.35. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1973.35).

## About this work

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.

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

Paula Modersohn-Becker drew this in about 1899, aged about 18. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

### How it was made

- **Charcoal.** Burnt willow or vine. It smudges and wipes away easily, which made it the natural tool for working out a composition.

### [Paula Modersohn-Becker](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/paula-modersohn-becker)

German, 1876–1907

## Facts

- Type: Drawing
- Culture: Germany, 19th century
- The artist was about 18
- Real size: about 24 × 13 in (62 × 34 cm). The 18 × 24 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/683.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/683/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/seated-female-nude-self-portrait-cma-147525).