Mother and Child

In paintings by nursing mothers, the German artist Paula Modersohn-Becker processed not only impressions she had gained in the artists' colony Worpswede, but also her desire for her own children. The painting Mother and Child from 1903 shows a woman breastfeeding her child in the great outdoors. She seems to stand by it. The simple clothes of the woman, her rough hands and the environment suggest that she is a farmer's wife. The picture expresses a close connection between mother and child. The baby is well fed and protected in the arms of his mother. In 1907, the artist's desire to have her own child was fulfilled, but she died of an embolism only a few days after the birth of her daughter Mathilde at the age of 31. Mathilde herself was over 90 years old. These circumstances give the picture a tragic beauty from today's perspective.

Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany / bridgemanimages.com