Celia Paul

Edvard Munch​’s paintings have been described as ‘confessional’. The term implies narcissism, but Munch’s talent is empathetic. As a brother to three sisters, his insight into female experience was personal. He understood women and girls. He watched them closely.

Munch’s mother died of TB when he was five. His older sister Sophie died, also of TB, when he was...

The painter​ Gwen John suffered from jealousy in her relationship with the sculptor Auguste Rodin. She was 27 when she started to model for him. He was 63. Rodin slept with a lot of women during his lifetime and the women he slept with also posed for him. John was jealous of Rodin’s other women. She was deeply in love with him. Throughout their tempestuous affair, she continued to...