Self-Portrait as a Half-Length Nude with Amber Necklace II 1906

Paula Modersohn-Becker made this self-portrait with oil on canvas, we don't know when. The way she's built up the colours in layers is super interesting; pinks and yellows over a blue ground. You get the sense that she's not just painting what she sees, but also feeling her way through the process. Look at the texture of the paint on her arms, it's so thick, almost sculptural. Then compare that to the background where the paint is much thinner and more transparent. That contrast makes the figure really pop. It’s a very physical painting, like she's building herself up, stroke by stroke, like a dance between the eye and the hand. There's something about the directness of her gaze that reminds me of Frida Kahlo, that same unflinching self-examination. Both artists using the self-portrait as a way to explore their own identities, their own bodies, and their place in the world. Modersohn-Becker invites us to see ourselves in her, and to see the beauty in imperfection.