8 February 2026 marks the 150th anniversary of Paula Modersohn-Becker’s birth. Bremen and Worpswede were two pivotal stages in her life’s journey. Museums in both towns are honouring the artist with major exhibition projects since February 2026. Two new film productions reflect on her life and work from a contemporary perspective: on 8 February 2026, ARTE did broadcast a documentary, and in the summer, farbfilm will present a feature film about Paula Modersohn-Becker starring Katharina Stark.
Image above: Visitors in front of Paula Modersohn-Becker’s Self-Portrait on the 6th Wedding Anniversary (1906) at the Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum, Bremen, © Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum, Photo: Patric Leo
Paula Becker spent her youth in Bremen. It was within the creative milieu of the neighbouring artists’ colony of Worpswede, as well as during her stays in Paris, that she developed her subject matter and her very own painterly style. As early as 1927, the Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum – now located on Böttcherstraße in the heart of Bremen – opened its doors, becoming the first museum in the world dedicated to a female painter.
Although scarcely recognised as a professional artist during her lifetime, Paula Modersohn-Becker is now internationally acclaimed and was celebrated in solo exhibitions in New York and Chicago in 2024. At the end of November 2025, her self-portrait ‘Looking Slightly to the Left’ fetched 1.27 million euros at auction – a world record for a German female painter.
Together with the holdings of the Paula Modersohn-Becker Foundation, the Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum houses the most extensive public collection of her works. Here, the milestone birthday is being celebrated with a major special exhibition: under the programmatic title BECOMING PAULA, the show traces Paula Modersohn-Becker’s artistic development and, for the first time, also focuses on the reception of the painter in the 20th and 21st centuries.
The arte documentary
‘Paula Modersohn-Becker – No Compromises’
is currently available to watch in the media library:
www.arte.tv/de/videos/127499-000-A/paula-modersohn-becker-keine-kompromisse/
The four main museums in the artists’ village of Worpswede – Barkenhoff, Große Kunstschau, Haus im Schluh and Worpsweder Kunsthalle – take up this theme. In their joint exhibition IMPULS PAULA, they explore the many ways in which Paula Modersohn-Becker continues to inspire female artists to this day. Taking a single work by Paula Modersohn-Becker as their starting point, visitors to the four museums embark on artistic journeys of discovery along various thematic strands. The paths between the museums, through the artists’ village and into the surrounding countryside serve as a continuation of this journey of discovery, for here numerous places and traces – such as the Zionskirche, her former studio, her grave and her pictorial motifs – recall Paula Modersohn-Becker’s life in Worpswede.
Paula Modersohn-Becker is world-famous, yet here in Bremen and Worpswede she felt – and still feels – at home. The two exhibitions invite visitors to rediscover the painter in the context of her life, her artistic development and as a source of inspiration for contemporary art.
Numerous exhibitions, studio tours, plays, performances, creative workshops, family events and a conference round off the anniversary programme. The Federal Association of Women Artists (GEDOK), which continues to play a key role in promoting the social recognition and networking of women artists, will celebrate its centenary in 2026 and is contributing exciting events to the programme.
WHEN?
Exhibition dates: Sunday, 8. February until Sunday, 13. September 2026
WHERE?
Paula-Modersohn-Becker-Museum
Böttcherstraße 6-10
28195 Bremen
