Häuser. Um 1897.
Gouache.
Lower left inscribed "P.M.-B." by a hand other than that of the artist. On watercolor paper. 31.3 x 47.5 cm (12.3 x 18.7 in), the full sheet. [JS].

• Early composition in her characteristic reduced style.
• Presumably made during Modersohn-Becker's first stay at the Worpswede artist colony in 1897.
• The geometrically simplified houses already hint at the artist's remarkable progressiveness.

Accompanied by a photo expertise by Wolfgang Werner, Bremen, from January 17, 2011. The work is included in the catalogue raisonné of paper works, published by Anne Röver-Kann and Wolfgang Werner on behalf of the Paula Modersohn-Becker Foundation in July 2023.

PROVENANCE: Private collection.
Private collection Berlin (acquired from the above).

"I don't think you should think so much about nature when painting, at least not when conceiving the picture. [..] What matters is my personal sensation. Once this has been determined, clearly in terms of form and color, then I use nature to make my picture appear natural, so that a layman is convinced it was made plein-air."
Paula Modersohn-Becker, diary entry of October 1, 1902