Portrait of Rainer Maria Rilke
Artist	Paula Modersohn-Becker
Year	1906
Medium	Oil and tempera on cardboard
Dimensions	32.3 cm× 25.4 cm(12.7 in× 10.0 in)
Location	Ludwig Roselius Museum, Bremen

The Portrait of Rainer Maria Rilke is an oil and tempera on cardboard painting by Paula Modersohn-Becker, from 1906. It is held in the Ludwig Roselius Museum, in Bremen. ^[1]

History and description

The Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke and the painter Paula Modersohn-Becker had been close friends since around 1901. In 1902, however, he didn't mentioned her, nor his own wife, Clara Westhoff, in his art book Worpswede über die Künstlerkolonie , about an artists colony. ^[2]

In 1906, Modersohn-Becker and Rilke were both living in a boarding house in Paris and had close contact with each other. This portrait was created at that time as an oil tempera on cardboard painting. ^{[3] [4]}

The portrait focus on his head, depicting Rilke with a thoughtful and introspective expression, in earthy tones and expressive textures.

Afterwards, both returned to their families. Modersohn-Becker died the following year, shortly after giving birth to a child. The tragic loss deeply affected Rilke. He processed his grief in his poem Requiem for a Friend (1908). ^[5]

Rilke disliked the current portrait, despite his friendship with the artist. In 1922, Rilke wrote in a letter that he didn't liked any of the portraits that had been made of him so far, with the exception of a bust by Fritz Huf  [ de ]. ^[6]

Despite his disapproval, the depiction made by Modersohn-Becker became one the most famous of his portraits.

References