How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

Celia Paul’s most frequent sitter over the past twenty years has been her mother. Here she is portrayed gazing out of a window. The title of the painting alludes to her mother’s Christian faith, and the symbolism of the cross is implied by the bars of the window. A spiritual atmosphere is suggested by the evocative handling of light and space.

Celia Paul’s portraits of her mother are usually painted in dense layers of thick oil paint, giving them a monumental presence. However, in this ‘study’, she uses thin washes and rapid brush marks which reveal her powerful drawing skills.

Abbot Hall

Kendal

Title

Study: My Mother and the Cross

Date

2001

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 143 x W 143 cm

Accession number

LAT:2007.0008

Acquisition method

purchased with the assistance of the Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund and the Friends, Patrons and Benefactors of the Lakeland Arts Trust, 2007