Celia Paul on Art and Love, Self Discipline, and Francis Bacon | Fashion Neurosis
Celia Paul is a British painter.
Born in India, Celia returned to England in the 1960s, moving to London to study at the Slade School of Art, aged 16, where she met Lucian Freud. They began a relationship that lasted ten years and led to the birth of their son, Frank. Paul frequently sat for Freud, and appears in many of his notable works including Girl in a Striped Nightdress and Large Interior, W11 (after Watteau).
Paul's work mines the complexities of interior and exterior life, looping back and forth through time to the people and places closest to her. From 1977 to 2007 she worked on a series of paintings of her mother, and she has since concentrated on painting her four sisters, particularly her sister Kate. Paul has also produced a large number of evocative self-portraits over the course of her career. Celia is a gifted landscape painter, frequently depicting seascapes and the views from her studio.
Celia published her memoir, Self-Portrait, in 2019, followed by Letters to Gwen John in 2022. A monograph on her work, Celia Paul: Works 1975 - 2025, was published by MACK in 2025.
Her major solo exhibitions include Celia Paul, curated by Hilton Als, at the Yale Center for British Art and The Huntington in 2018/19, Celia Paul - Colony of Ghosts, at Victoria Miro in 2025, and Celia Paul: Innervisions at Gladstone Gallery, New York, in 2026. Her work is held in public collections including the National Portrait Gallery, the British Museum, the V&A and the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
Her latest solo show, Celia Paul: Objects of Desire, opened in November Victoria Miro Venice, and is on until December. An accompanying memoir, Objects of Desire, is published by Jonathan Cape on November 12th.
On this week’s episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Celia Paul discuss Lucian Freud’s bathroom scales, Francis Bacon, and self discipline.
Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Chapters:
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:22 What are you wearing today?
00:09:03 Bella and Celia’s first meeting
00:12:55 Lingerie shopping
00:16:30 Transition from girlhood to womanhood
00:25:45 Drive
00:30:27 Hair
00:33:24 Childhood obsessions
00:43:00 Bruce Bernard images
00:50:26 Francis Bacon and the School of London painters
00:55:14 Misogyny in the art world
01:00:08 Motherhood
01:05:38 Letters to Gwen John
01:11:20 Celia’s husband Steven Kupfer
01:15:48 Humour and Celia’s son Frank
01:17:50 If you fancy someone…
01:21:17 Gallery representation and recognition
01:25:31 Outro
Born in India, Celia returned to England in the 1960s, moving to London to study at the Slade School of Art, aged 16, where she met Lucian Freud. They began a relationship that lasted ten years and led to the birth of their son, Frank. Paul frequently sat for Freud, and appears in many of his notable works including Girl in a Striped Nightdress and Large Interior, W11 (after Watteau).
Paul's work mines the complexities of interior and exterior life, looping back and forth through time to the people and places closest to her. From 1977 to 2007 she worked on a series of paintings of her mother, and she has since concentrated on painting her four sisters, particularly her sister Kate. Paul has also produced a large number of evocative self-portraits over the course of her career. Celia is a gifted landscape painter, frequently depicting seascapes and the views from her studio.
Celia published her memoir, Self-Portrait, in 2019, followed by Letters to Gwen John in 2022. A monograph on her work, Celia Paul: Works 1975 - 2025, was published by MACK in 2025.
Her major solo exhibitions include Celia Paul, curated by Hilton Als, at the Yale Center for British Art and The Huntington in 2018/19, Celia Paul - Colony of Ghosts, at Victoria Miro in 2025, and Celia Paul: Innervisions at Gladstone Gallery, New York, in 2026. Her work is held in public collections including the National Portrait Gallery, the British Museum, the V&A and the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
Her latest solo show, Celia Paul: Objects of Desire, opened in November Victoria Miro Venice, and is on until December. An accompanying memoir, Objects of Desire, is published by Jonathan Cape on November 12th.
On this week’s episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Celia Paul discuss Lucian Freud’s bathroom scales, Francis Bacon, and self discipline.
Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Chapters:
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:22 What are you wearing today?
00:09:03 Bella and Celia’s first meeting
00:12:55 Lingerie shopping
00:16:30 Transition from girlhood to womanhood
00:25:45 Drive
00:30:27 Hair
00:33:24 Childhood obsessions
00:43:00 Bruce Bernard images
00:50:26 Francis Bacon and the School of London painters
00:55:14 Misogyny in the art world
01:00:08 Motherhood
01:05:38 Letters to Gwen John
01:11:20 Celia’s husband Steven Kupfer
01:15:48 Humour and Celia’s son Frank
01:17:50 If you fancy someone…
01:21:17 Gallery representation and recognition
01:25:31 Outro
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