With her nude self-portraits, the modernist pioneer Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876–1907) laid the cornerstone for avant-garde nude paintings of the early 20th century. Before Richard Gerstl (1908) and Egon Schiele (1910) she presented herself in 1906 in an almost life-sized portrait, turning to a thoroughly controversial theme that was hardly familiar at the time with an astonishing sense of confidence and admirable courage. Even among male artists, nude self-portraits were a rarity in those days. In this way the artist, as a woman, helped to give this underappreciated subject new, unexpected prestige. This substantial volume of images and text presents this intriguing development in art history from the start of the 20th century to the present day, and is the first to include the most famous nude self-portraits by women artists. Artists featured (selection):Marianne Breslauer, Anne Brigman, Imogen Cunningham, Xenia Hausner, Rachel Lewis, Clare Menck, Ana Mendieta, Anita Rée, Joan Semmel, Amrita Sher-Gil, Renée Sintenis, Jo Spence, Cecile Walton, Hannah Wilke Exhibition schedule: Kunstsammlungen Böttcherstrasse, Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum, Bremen, October 20, 2013–February 2, 2014