Paula Becker was born and grew up in Dresden-Friedrichstadt. She was the third child of seven children in her family. Her father Carl Woldemar Becker (January 31, 1841 Odessa – November 30, 1901, Bremen), the son of a Russian university professor for French lessons, was employed as an engineer with the German railway. Her mother, Mathilde (November 3, 1852 Lübeck – January 22, 1926 Bremen) was from an aristocratic family von Bültzingslöwen, and her parents provided their children a cultured and intellectual household environment.
Clara Rilke Westhoff, Paula Modersohn-Becker, 1905
In 1888 the family moved from Dresden to Bremen. While visiting an maternal aunt in London, Becker received her first instruction in drawing at St Johns Wood Art School. In 1893 she was introduced to works of the artists circle of Worpswede; Otto Modersohn, Fritz Mackensen, Fritz Overbeck and Heinrich Vogeler presented their paintings in Bremens Art Museum, Kunsthalle Bremen. In addition to her teachers training in Bremen in 1893-1895, Becker received private instruction in painting. In 1896 she participated in a course for painting and drawing sponsored by the "Verein der Berliner Künstlerinnen" (Union of Berlin Female Artists) which offered art studies to women.
Beckers friend Clara Westhoff left Bremen in early 1899 to study in Paris. By December of that year, Becker followed her there, and in 1900 she studied at the Académie Colarossi in the Latin Quarter.
Clara Rilke Westhoff, Paula Modersohn-Becker, 1905
In 1888 the family moved from Dresden to Bremen. While visiting an maternal aunt in London, Becker received her first instruction in drawing at St Johns Wood Art School. In 1893 she was introduced to works of the artists circle of Worpswede; Otto Modersohn, Fritz Mackensen, Fritz Overbeck and Heinrich Vogeler presented their paintings in Bremens Art Museum, Kunsthalle Bremen. In addition to her teachers training in Bremen in 1893-1895, Becker received private instruction in painting. In 1896 she participated in a course for painting and drawing sponsored by the "Verein der Berliner Künstlerinnen" (Union of Berlin Female Artists) which offered art studies to women.
Beckers friend Clara Westhoff left Bremen in early 1899 to study in Paris. By December of that year, Becker followed her there, and in 1900 she studied at the Académie Colarossi in the Latin Quarter.