Paula Modersohn-Becker Google doodle honors German artist connected to the Modernist art movement

In 1906, Paula Modersohn-Becker painted a portrait of herself that would become known as the first nude self-portrait painted by a female.

Many art historians have since defined Modersohn-Becker’s work as bold and courageous and have placed her among artists like Picasso and Matisse, giving her credit for being part of the art community that started the Modernist movement.

Modersohn-Becker’s stunning images have earned the artist a Google doodle today, marking her 142nd birthday.

“Modersohn-Becker was known for her bold choices as an artist — be it her depictions of nude female figures (among the very first women artists to do so), or those of women breastfeeding their children,” writes Google on its Google Doodle Blog, “She tenaciously resisted the strict expectations held of women of her era, preferring exploration and painting over more traditional pastimes.”

The doodle leads to a search for “Paula Modersohn-Becker,” and was designed by Doris Freigofas and Daniel Dolz, a Berlin-based duo known as the Golden Cosmos.

Google shared the following early drafts of the Golden Cosmos’s work that led to the final Modersohn-Becker doodle:

In addition to being shared on Google’s US and German home pages, the doodle is also being displayed on a select number of other international Google pages, including Iceland, Argentina, Japan, Lithuania, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand.

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