Paula Becker-Modersohn's portrait painting of Rainer Maria Rilke . Paula Modersohn-Becker (8 February 1876 – 20 November 1907) was a German painter and one of the most important representatives of early expressionism. Her brief career was cut short when she died from postpartum embolism at the age of 31. She is recognized as the first known female painter to paint nude self-portraits. She was an important member of the artistic movement of modernism at the start of the twentieth century. (Credit: Debabrata Chakrabarti, Time Pesent and Time Past, Facebook)
