Celia Paul (born 11 November 1959) is an Indian-born British painter, best known for her intense, haunting portraits of her close family and herself. Paul lives and works in

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Biography

Celia Paul was born on 11 November 1959 in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

(formerly called Trivandrum),

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

. From 1976 to 1981 she studied at the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

in London, where she met

Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. His early career as a painter was inf ...

who was a visiting tutor and with whom she would have a relationship. Paul was represented by Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London from 1984 to 1986 and then by

Marlborough Fine Art Marlborough Fine Art was founded in London in 1946 by Frank Lloyd and Harry Fischer. In 1963, a gallery was opened as Marlborough-Gerson in Manhattan, New York, at the Fuller Building on Madison Avenue and 57th Street, which later relocated in ...

, London from 1989 to 2014. She has been represented by

Victoria Miro Victoria Marion Miro (born 1 July 1945) is a British art dealer, "one of the grandes dames of the Young British Artists, Britart scene"Husband, Stuart"Go see... the Victoria Miro gallery" ''The Observer'', 3 December 2000. Retrieved 27 September 2 ...

, London since May 2014. A solo exhibition of new work by the artist titled ''Celia Paul: Memory and Desire'' took place at Victoria Miro in London, 6 April–14 May 2022. The exhibition coincided with the publication of ''Letters to Gwen John'', a new book by the artist published by Jonathan Cape and New York Review Books which centres on a series of letters addressed to the painter

Gwen John Gwendolen ''Gwen'' Mary John (22 June 1876 – 18 September 1939) was a Welsh people, Welsh artist who worked in France for most of her career. Her paintings, mainly portraits of anonymous female sitters, are rendered in a range of closely relat ...

(1876–1939), who has long been a tutelary spirit for Paul. Paul wrote her autobiography ''Self-Portrait'' which was released in 2019 and well received by national newspapers including ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

,'' ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

'', and ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

''.

Style and influences

Celia Paul's paintings are intimate depictions of people and places that she knows well. She does no portrait commissions. Her paintings have a haunting otherworldly feeling. "Throughout all her work the sense of sight is associated with a world of potential, within. This is how a sense of the ineffable is able to be communicated". Paul worked on a series of paintings of her mother from 1977 to 2007 and since then she has concentrated on her four sisters, especially her sister Kate. "… e real strength of Paul's project becomes apparent with time: the concentrated emotional energy of chronicling a family and its subtle shifts over many years". Recently her work has taken a new direction and she has been focusing on landscape and the sea. " e …is a creator of subterranean images. Her canvases are Impressionism in conversation with modernism- objective but felt". Paul lives and works in her studio which is directly opposite the main gates of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

Personal life

From the age of 18 to 28, Paul was in a romantic relationship with

. She has a son with him, Frank Paul (born 10 December 1984), who is also an artist. She was married to Steven Kupfer from 2011 until his death in 2021.

Solo exhibitions

*" Celia Paul: Colony of Ghosts", Victoria Miro, London, 14 March - 17 April 2025 *"Celia Paul: Memory and Desire", Victoria Miro, London, 6 April – 14 May 2022 *"Celia Paul: Self-Portrait", an extended reality (XR) exhibition on Vortic Collect, Victoria Miro, London, UK, 10 November – 12 December 2020 *"Celia Paul: My Studio", an extended reality (XR) exhibition on Vortic Collect, Victoria Miro, London, UK, 26 June – 25 July 2020 *"Celia Paul", Victoria Miro, London, 13 November – 20 December 2019 *"Celia Paul", curated by Hilton Als, Yale Center for British Art, 3 April – 12 August 2018 *"The Sea and The Mirror", Victoria Miro Venice, 23 September – 21 December 2017 *"Desdemona for Hilton by Celia", Victoria Miro, London, 16 September – 29 October 2016 *"Desdemona for Celia by Hilton", Gallery Met, New York, 2015 *"Celia Paul",

, 2014 *"Gwen John and Celia Paul: Painters in Parallel",

Pallant House Gallery Pallant House Gallery is an art gallery in Chichester, West Sussex, England. It houses one of the best collections of 20th-century British art in the world. History The Gallery's collection is founded on works left to the city of Chichester by ...

, Chichester, 2012–2013 *"Celia Paul",

Graves Art Gallery Graves Art Gallery is an art gallery in Sheffield, England. The gallery is located above the Central Library in Sheffield city centre. It houses permanent displays from the city’s historic and contemporary collection of British and European ...

, Sheffield, 2005 *"Celia Paul: Stillness", Abbot Hall, Kendal, 2004 *Regular solo exhibitions at

, 1991–2013 *"Celia Paul",

Bernard Jacobson Gallery Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern ...

, 1986

Group exhibitions

* "Pictus Porrectus: Reconsidering the Full-Length Portrait", curated by Dodie Kazanjian and Alison Gingeras, Isaac Bell House, Newport, Rhode Island, 1 July – 2 October 2022 * "Me, Myself, I – Artists’ Self-Portraits", Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, 2 May – 19 June 2022 * "Figuration", Marlborough Gallery, London, 17 March – 29 April 2022 * "The Sublime in Nature", Daniel Malarkey, London, 16 June – 10 July 2021 * "I See You", an extended reality (XR) exhibition on Vortic Collect, Victoria Miro, London, 2 June – 4 July 2020 * "Parley for the Oceans x Vortic", online exhibition on Vortic, 2 October – 2 November 2020 * "Works on Paper", Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Copenhagen, 26 January – 6 April 2019 * "Unparalleled Journey through Contemporary Art of Past 50 Years", Rubell Museum, Miami, USA, on view since 4 December 2019 * "Contemporary Dialogues with Tintoretto", Palazzo Ducale and Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro, Venice, 20 October 2018 – 24 February 2019 * "Studio Prints: a Survey", Marlborough Fine Art, London, 30 November – 21 December 2018 * "All Too Human", Tate Britain, 28 February – 26 August 2018; travelling to Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, 9 October 2018 – 13 January 2019 * "House Work", Victoria Miro Mayfair, London, 1 February – 18 March 2017 * "NO MAN'S LAND: Women Artists from the Rubell Family Collection", Rubell Family Collection, Miami, 2015 – 2016 * "Forces in Nature", curated by

Hilton Als Hilton Als (born 1960) is an American writer and theater critic. He is a teaching professor at the University of California, Berkeley, an associate professor of writing at Columbia University and a staff writer and theater critic for ''The New Yo ...

;

, London, 2015 * Work presented at

Frieze Art Fair Frieze Art Fair is an annual contemporary art, contemporary art festival, art fair first held in 2003 in London's Regent's Park. Developed by the founders of the contemporary art magazine ''Frieze (magazine), Frieze'', the fair has since expan ...

, London, 2014 by

*"Cinematic Visions: Painting at the Edge of Reality", curated by

James Franco James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has starred in numerous films, including Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007), ''Milk (2008 American film), Milk'' (200 ...

Isaac Julien Sir Isaac Julien (born 21 February 1960Annette Kuhn"Julien, Isaac (1960–)" BFI Screen Online.) is a British installation artist, filmmaker, and Distinguished Professor of the Arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Early life Juli ...

and Glenn Scott Wright,

, London, 2013 *"Self-Consciousness", curated by

Peter Doig Peter Doig ( ; born 17 April 1959) is a painter of Scottish nationality who has lived and worked between Trinidad, Canada, the USA, Germany and Britain. He settled in Trinidad with his family between 2002 and 2021, when he moved back to London. ...

and

, VeneKlasen/Werner, Berlin, 2010 *"Psycho", curated by Danny Moynihan, Anne Faggionato, London, 2000 *"School of London", Odette Gilbert, London, 1989 *"British Figurative Art: Sickert to Bacon",

Israel Museum The Israel Museum (, ''Muze'on Yisrael'', ) is an Art museum, art and archaeology museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world's leading Encyclopedic museum, encyclopa ...

, Jerusalem, 1989 *"School of London: Bacon to Bevan",

Musée Maillol The Musée Maillol is an art museum located in the 7th arrondissement at 59–61, rue de Grenelle, Paris, France. History In 1964, Dina Vierny donated Maillol's monumental sculptures to the state. André Malraux, Minister of Culture, installs t ...

, Paris, 1998 *"September", curated by

The approach ''The Approach'' is the debut album of the Illinois-based industrial band, I:Scintilla. Production on the album began immediately after the formation of the band and it was produced by guitarist Jim Cookas. Track listing # "Intro" - 1:32 # " ...

, London, 1997

Films and interviews

*Celia Paul: Private View, directed by Jake Auerbach, 2019 *In Conversation with

, London, 8 July 2014 *''Artists at War:

Walter Sickert Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...

'', directed by Danny Katz, 2014 *

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

, broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

, 1 October 2012 *''The Last Art Film'', directed by

Jake Auerbach Jake Auerbach (born 1958) is a British film maker specialising in documentary subjects. Though his films have ranged across the cultural spectrum he is best known for his portraits of artists both contemporary and historical. Career Jake Auerbach ...

, 2010 *''Lucian Freud'', directed by

Randall Wright Randall D. Wright (born August 4, 1956) is a Canadian academic macroeconomist who advanced the fields of monetary economics and labor economics through his role in the development of matching theory. Biography Wright obtained a B.A. in Econo ...

, 2011 *''Lucian Freud'', directed by

, 2004

Public collections

, London;

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

, London;

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, London; Saatchi Collection, London; Abbot Hall, Kendal;

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, New York;

Yale Center for British Art The Yale Center for British Art at Yale University in central New Haven, Connecticut, houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of British art outside the United Kingdom. The collection of paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, rare ...

, Connecticut;

Carlsberg Foundation Carlsberg Foundation () is a not-for-profit organization that was founded by J. C. Jacobsen in 1876, by allocating some of his shares in the Carlsberg Brewery to fund and operate the Carlsberg Laboratory and the Museum of National History at ...

, Copenhagen;

Frissiras Museum Frissiras Museum is a contemporary painting museum in Plaka Athens, Greece. Its permanent collection consists of around 4000 paintings and sculptures by Greek and other European artists on the subject of the human form. Due to the relatively small ...

, Athens;

Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum The Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum (HAUM) is an art museum in the German city of Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. History Founded in 1754, the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum is one of the oldest museums in Europe. The museum has its origins in the art and nat ...

, Brunswick, Germany
Morgan Library
New York
New Hall Art Collection
Cambridge.

References

External links

Celia Paul
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Celia 1959 births 20th-century British painters 21st-century British painters British modern painters Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Living people