Still life with sugar bowl and hyacinth in a glass 1905

Paula Modersohn-Becker made this still life with oil paint and some kind of brush, sometime around the turn of the century, though we don't know exactly when. It's like she's feeling out the painting, seeing what she can do with these subdued colors, mostly browns, blacks, and creams. The painting has this quiet energy, a kind of humble curiosity. Look at the hyacinth in the glass - the brushstrokes are thick, and you can almost feel the weight of the paint, like she's building up the image one stroke at a time. Modersohn-Becker was interested in the German art scene at the turn of the century, and this painting reminds me of the work of other artists, such as Gustave Courbet. But unlike Courbet, who was always striving for realism, Modersohn-Becker was interested in something else - the feeling of the painting, the sense of it as a made thing.