Although she was above all a great painter, Paula Modersohn-Becker is still best known as the woman to whom Rainer Maria Rilke addressed his great poem "Requiem for a Friend." Dear Friend is the most extensive treatment of her life available in English, and tells the story behind the passionate but also self-serving account in Rilke's poem. It includes new translations of Rilke's "Requiem" as well as the love poems Rilke wrote for Modersohn-Becker soon after they met.
A growing list of Modersohn-Becker links:
PM-B at Artcyclopedia.com
PM-B at Prentice Hall Art
Individual Works:
Self-Portrait with Camelia Branch
Self-Portrait with Amber Necklace
Self-Portrait with Amber Necklace (lighter version)
Girl with Necklace (linked to five more paintings)