Celia Paul’s My Sisters in Mourning: a meditative portrait of a mother's death
In this intimate depiction of her family, the artist paints with a contemplative and spiritual air
Through the gloom …
With its ash-grey palette, the soft sighs of the sitters’ bodies and their self-possession within the group, you don’t need the title to know this is an image of sorrow.
Parental leave …
The painting, from 2015-16, depicts the aftermath of an event the artist Celia Paul and her sisters have anticipated all their lives: their mother’s death. Paul has even written of her plans to make the painting before her mother died.
Image: Celia Paul, My Sisters in Mourning, 2015-2016
Oil on canvas
147.4 x 148 cm
58 1/8 x 58 1/4 in
58 1/8 x 58 1/4 in
© Celia Paul
Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, London/Venice
November 15 2019
