Celia Paul: Objects of Desire: An Artist in Venice

Pre-order now. This product will ship from 12 November 2026.

Alone in Venice for an artist’s residency, Celia Paul records her daily painting practice. Her days are both charged with and interrupted by the turmoil she feels over her husband’s death and by a later obsession with a younger man.

Inspired by the art, literature and light-filled atmosphere of the city, Paul’s meditations on love, creation, ageing and belonging are interwoven with vivid explorations of artists and writers connected to Venice. An act of profound and deeply personal observation, Objects of Desire reveals more with each reading: a window on to a life devoted to art and a self-portrait of an artist who longs to look unflinchingly at herself – and invites us to do the same.

Objects of Desire: An Artist in Venice by Celia Paul is published in the UK by Jonathan Cape and in the US by New York Review Books. Celia Paul: Objects of Desire is on view at Victoria Miro, Venice, 7 November–12 December 2026.