I am Me: Paula Modersohn-Becker at the Neue

Join us for an exploration of the Paula Modersohn-Becker exhibit at the stunning Neue Galerie, plus a special Labor Day weekend picnic in Central Park!

Despite her importance to art history, Modersohn-Becker’s work is relatively unknown and has never before been the subject of a museum retrospective in the US. But the Neue Galerie is changing that with “Paula Modersohn-Becker: Ich bin Ich / I Am Me” the first full-scale presentation devoted to the artist in this country.

In the course of her brief career – which was cut short at the young age of 31 because of a postpartum embolism – Modersohn-Becker produced more than 700 paintings and over 1,000 drawings. She is acclaimed for the many self-portraits she created, including the first nude self-portraits known to have been made by a woman. Many of these works focused on her pregnancy, another first among Western women artists. 

The artist first became known in part through her letters and diaries, including correspondence with her close friend, the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke. In 1906 Modersohn-Becker wrote the following to Rilke: "And now I don’t know how to sign my name. I am not Modersohn and I am not Paula Becker anymore, I am Me, and hope to become that more and more." This landmark statement of self-determination—Ich bin Ich (I am Me)—provides the sub-title for this exhibition, and a window into the artist’s formidable sense of identity.

All tickets include museum entry plus the private, guided tour. 

10:50am | Meet at the Neue for 11am tour
1048 5th Ave.