Otto Modersohn

Friedrich Wilhelm Otto Modersohn (1865 – 1943) was a German landscape painter. He was a co-founder of the Art Colony at Worpswede. Life Modersohn was born on 22 February 1865 at Soest, Kingdom of Prussia. In 1884, he began his studies at the Art Academy of Düsseldorf. Four years later, he moved to the Academy of Fine Arts, Karlsruhe, where he studied under Hermann Baisch. In July 1889, he made his first visit to Worpswede with Fritz Mackensen. In August, Hans am Ende followed. They were later joined by Fritz Overbeck (1893) and Heinrich Vogeler (1894); all students from Düsseldorf. In 1895, they presented their first group exhibition at the Kunsthalle Bremen. They were largely panned by the critics, but went on to a major breakthrough at the Munich Glaspalast. In 1897, the Art Colony was officially established and Modersohn married Helene Schröder (1868-1900), the daughter of a Bremen merchant. Two years later, he resigned from the association, citing his continuing fight for the personal, individual liberty of every artist. Vogeler and Overbeck joined him in leaving. The couple had one daughter, Elsbeth (1898-1984). The next year, his wife died after a long illness. In 1901, he remarried. His new wife, Paula Becker, was also a well-known painter. She died in 1907, of an embolism, shortly after giving birth to their daughter Mathilde "Tille" (1907-1998). At that point, Modersohn felt that he could not remain in Worpswede and moved to Fischerhude, a nearby village. His third wife was , daughter of the painter Heinrich Breling. She was primarily a singer, but painted as well. They had two sons, Ulrich (1913-1943) and , who also became a painter.