PAULA MODERSOHN-BECKER

Attracted by the simplicity of rural life in the village of Worpswede (near Bremen), Modersohn-Becker began a series of paintings of peasants from the area. This image of an old woman is given dignity by the reduction of the subject to simplified large forms and by the harmony of color, to reveal the inner meaning of her subject. Her gesture, traditionally used in depictions of the Annunciation as Mary’s acceptance of her role, here can be interpreted as the old woman’s recognition of her place in the cycle of human life and is underscored by the flowers in her lap.