Artwork
Old Factory
Old Factory is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Paula Modersohn-Becker. It dates from 1900 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left: 1900
About this work
Technique & Style
Old Factory is an oil painting executed on paperboard, a modest support that encouraged an intimate scale and a direct, sketch-like handling of paint.
Old Factory is an oil painting executed on paperboard, a modest support that encouraged an intimate scale and a direct, sketch-like handling of paint. The work is classified as a painting within the National Gallery of Art collection.
The two sources differ on the support: the corpus record specifies paperboard, while the Wikidata entry lists oil paint on canvas. The corpus provenance, tracing the work from Ruth Cole Kainen through her estate to a 2012 bequest to the NGA, is consistent with a fragile paperboard support requiring careful conservation handling.
History & Provenance
Paula Modersohn-Becker created the painting Old Factory in 1900. The work was executed in oil on paperboard, distinguishing its support from later catalog entries that list canvas. The documented ownership chain begins with Ruth Cole Kainen (1922–2009) of Chevy Chase, Maryland, who retained the piece until her death.
Upon her passing, the painting was bequeathed to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 2012, where it remains part of the permanent collection. No records regarding a specific commission or earlier private owners prior to Kainen are provided in the available sources.
Old Factory is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The work entered the museum's holdings in 2012 as a bequest from the estate of Ruth Cole Kainen, a resident of Chevy Chase, Maryland. Prior to this transfer, the painting remained in Kainen's personal collection.
While specific inventory or accession numbers are not provided in the available records, the provenance traces directly from the artist to Kainen and subsequently to the institution. The provided sources do not list any specific exhibitions where the work has been displayed.
Overview
Created in 1900, Old Factory is an oil painting on paperboard by German artist Paula Modersohn‑Becker. The work presents an industrial building set within a modest landscape, employing a restrained palette of browns, greens and light blues. Visible brushwork gives the surface a tactile quality, while the composition balances the structure’s solidity against surrounding foliage.
Subject & Meaning
At the centre of the canvas stands a weathered factory, its dark roof and tall chimney rising above a field of bushes and trees. The juxtaposition of the man‑made edifice with the natural environment invites reflection on the encroachment of industry on rural settings, a theme common in early twentieth‑century art.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Paula Modersohn-Becker was a German Expressionist painter and draftswoman of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
