File:Haus Paula Becker, Paula Becker, 1892.png|left|thumb|Paula Becker (1892) Collection of Haus Paula Becker, Bremen : After Paula's birth, the Becker family moved into a house in "Friedrichstraße 29" (today "Friedrichstraße 46"). ]
Early life , Cologne, Germany|left|225x225px Becker was born and grew up in
Dresden, in the
Friedrichstadt area. She was the third of seven children in her family. Her father, Carl Woldemar Becker (1841–1901), the Odessa-born son of a Russian university professor of French, was employed as an engineer with the
German railway. Her mother, Mathilde (1852–1926), was from the aristocratic
von Bültzingslöwen family, and her parents provided their children a cultured and intellectual household environment. Despite these advantages of family, the Beckers found themselves in socially constrained circumstances. In 1861,
Oskar Becker, Carl's brother, in an unsuccessful assassination attempt, had shot King
Wilhelm of Prussia in the neck. The King was not severely injured, and Oskar was pardoned five years later for the crime (on condition that he permanently leave the country), but the constraints of opportunity for Carl Becker's family would linger. In 1888 the family moved from Dresden to
Bremen, where Carl Becker had obtained a position on the building board of the Prussian Railway Administration. The family interacted with Bremen's local artistic and intellectual circles, and Paula began to learn to draw. In the summer of 1892, her parents sent her to relatives in England to learn English. While living with a maternal aunt in
London, Becker received her first instruction in drawing at
St John's Wood Art School. After returning to Bremen, she studied at a teachers' training school from 1893 to 1895, as her father wished (two sisters also attended this program). Concurrently she received private painting lessons from local German painter Bernhard Wiegandt. but it was clear that she had little intention of pursuing a career in that profession. In the spring of 1896, Paula was able to travel to
Berlin to take part in a six-week drawing and painting course organized by the Berlin Artists' Association (Verein der Berliner Künstlerinnen), staying with members of her mother's family while completing her course. After graduating, she stayed on in Berlin, and in February 1897 was admitted to the first class of painting at the Women's Academy. Paula additionally used her Berlin time to visit its art museums, studying the works of German and Italian artists. At this time she began close friendships with the sculptor
Clara Westhoff (1875–1954), the painter
Ottilie Reylaender (1882–1965), and the poet
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926). It became quickly evident, however, that Worpswede was not suited to Becker's rapidly developing artistic style. In her journal, Becker wrote: "the way Mackensen portrays people is not broad enough, too genre-like for me." Two paintings she exhibited at the Bremen Kunsthalle in December 1899 were sharply criticized and had to be removed during the exhibition, In April 1900, the great World's Fair
Centennial Exhibition opened in Paris. Otto Modersohn, a Worpswede painter who had been an on-and-off resident of the colony since 1897, arrived in town with mutual friends to attend. His sick wife Helene had remained behind in Worpswede, and she died during Modersohn's short time in Paris. Modersohn hurried back to Germany. Shortly thereafter, Becker returned to Worpswede herself. It was clear to Becker's parents that the two had become romantically involved, but their disapproval was of little impact. The historian Katja Haustein argues that Becker's works depicting motherhood were inspired by contemporary ideas of "natural motherhood", against increased German state intervention into the private lives of women and the maternal relationship with their children. She had complained of pain in her legs after the delivery, and was advised to remain in bed. When the physician returned on 20 November, he advised her to rise. She walked a few steps, then sat down, called for the infant to be placed in her arms, complained of leg pain, and died, saying only "What a pity". Paula's death was likely due to
deep venous thrombosis (DVT), a complication of pregnancy that is relatively common when women are set to bed for a long time after delivery, as was customary practice at that time. Apparently, a
thrombus had formed in her leg, and with her mobility, broke off and then caused her death within hours. She was buried in the
Worpswede Cemetery. ==Self-portraits==