Anniversary Exhibitions
WE'RE CELEBRATING: 150 Years of Paula Modersohn-Becker
February 8, 2026, marked the 150th anniversary of Paula Modersohn-Becker’s birth. Bremen and Worpswede were two pivotal stops on her life’s journey. Museums in both cities will honor the artist in 2026 with two major exhibitions.
BECOMING PAULA: February 8–September 13, 2026, in Bremen
IMPULS PAULA: February 7–November 1, 2026, in Worpswede
THE EXHIBITIONS
Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum, Bremen
BECOMING PAULA
London · Berlin · Worpswede · Paris
February 8 through September 13, 2026
Paula Becker spent her youth in Bremen; it was through the creative environment of the neighboring artists’ colony of Worpswede and her stays in Paris that she discovered her subject matter and developed her very own painterly style. As early as 1927, the museum that is now the Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum opened on Böttcherstraße in the heart of Bremen—the first museum in the world dedicated to a female painter!
The Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum, which today houses the world’s largest collection of her works, is celebrating her birthday with a major special exhibition: Under the programmatic title BECOMING PAULA, some 80 works trace her life’s journey and illustrate how Paula Becker became the artist Paula Modersohn-Becker and, ultimately, an icon and role model. For the first time, the exhibition also examines how the painter was received in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Worpswede Museums
IMPULS PAULA
February 8 through November 1, 2026
In the artists’ village of Worpswede—Paula Modersohn-Becker’s primary home—the Barkenhoff, the Große Kunstschau Worpswede, the Haus im Schluh, and the Worpsweder Kunsthalle pick up on this theme. In the group exhibition IMPULS PAULA, more than 120 works of art illustrate the many ways in which the painter has inspired artists over the decades and continues to do so today. The exhibition focuses on contemporary female artists.
Taking one work by Paula Modersohn-Becker as their starting point, the four museums in Worpswede embark on journeys of discovery: Which artists were inspired by her, and in what ways? Each museum follows a different thread: Sometimes it is the artist’s gaze turned inward; other times, it is directed outward toward others. Sometimes it is the attitude toward the other person that is revealed in the painting; other times, it is the attitude toward changes in the landscape, climate, or society.
How did Paula Modersohn-Becker view these themes? What perspectives can be found in today’s art scene? The two exhibitions invite visitors to rediscover the painter in the context of her life, her artistic development, and her role as a source of inspiration in contemporary art.
You can download the informational brochure here
Here you'll find all the information about the exhibitions: