Still life with apples and bananas 1905

Paula Modersohn-Becker painted this oil on canvas still life with apples and bananas, one of many in her short career, sometime before 1907. Modersohn-Becker was working at a time when women artists were not taken seriously by the mainstream art world. Germany's art institutions were male-dominated, and women were often excluded from formal training and exhibition opportunities. Still life was considered a suitable subject for women artists since it was domestic in scale and did not involve the representation of the human figure, which was considered a more elevated artistic pursuit. However, Modersohn-Becker pushed against these limitations by treating the genre with a modern sensibility influenced by Post-Impressionism. She also sought to represent women and children in new and more authentic ways. To fully understand this painting, it is helpful to explore the artist's biography, her place in the cultural history of early 20th-century Germany, and her engagement with the artistic conventions of her time.