Paula Modersohn-Becker. A few weeks after the death of Paula Modersohn-Becker, her artist-friends sorted through her extensive estate. They were surprised and overwhelmed as they gradually discovered that the painter who had lived in their midst until her untimely death had been an exceptional artist. Paula Modersohn-Becker, who received very little recognition during her lifetime, is now considered to have been a trailblazer of Expressionism, whose life and work reflect the beginnings of the century of the avant-garde.