Photograph: colaimages/AlamyĪfter the announcement of Rego’s death, tributes started pouring in. I thought about falling in love again many times, but that’s nobody’s business.”ĭog Woman (1994) was inspired by a Portuguese fairytale. Remembering her late husband, Rego previously told the Guardian: “Grief is always there, it doesn’t get easier. The works were created in response to an abortion referendum to liberalise Portuguese law in 1998, and was credited with helping sway public opinion. Of her more political and eloquently shocking work, the harrowing abortion series depicts women doubled over after having had an illegal abortion. In Dog Woman (1994), inspired by a Portuguese fairytale, Rego asked her model Lila Nunes, the woman who had nursed her husband, to “crouch down and be a woman with her mouth open as she’s about to swallow something”. In her Tate Britain retrospective, placing Rego among a handful of contemporary female artists who have achieved comparable status, other notable works included the Dog Women series, a collection of pastel works portraying women behaving as dogs. In The Family (1998) shows a woman and her daughter dressing a seated man unable to help himself. Some of Rego’s most highly regarded work was inspired by her relationship with Willing. A year later, Rego was shortlisted for the Turner prize. In 1966, Willing was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis he died in 1988. In 1965, her first solo show in Lisbon was praised for its startling freedom of expression. I couldn’t keep following the rules I had to break out”. In 1963, the couple bought a house in London’s Camden Town, and spent summers in Portugal.Īfter Slade, Rego said she “seized up and got into a terrible depression. Falling pregnant at 20, she returned to Portugal which she described akin to “going back to prison, to a bourgeois life I detested”. Having studied at the Slade School of Fine Art at 17 under Lucian Freud, Rego met the artist Victor Willing, who later became her husband. But it was not until 1987 that Rego had her first major exhibition in Britain. Her work is valued in the millions of pounds, a film has been made about her, and a gallery named Casa das Histórias: Paula Rego (House of Stories), in the coastal town of Cascais, outside Lisbon, is one of the few dedicated to a living artist. Paula Rego’s The Dance (1988), on display at Tate Britain, London, in July 2021. In 2010, she was made Dame by the Queen and described the honour as a “ great recognition”. Known primarily for her subversive paintings, pastel drawing and prints inspired by folklore, Rego became the first associate artist in the National Gallery, which solidified her place as one of Britain’s greatest living painters and figurative artists worldwide. “They gave us a place to live and supported us for as long as they could. Later sent to England, Rego said her parents “gave me everything”. In her early years, Rego was cared for by her grandmother and an aunt, as her parents lived in England where her father worked.īeginning drawing from the age of four to “ entertain herself”, Rego knew she wanted to be an artist by the age of eight, despite discouragement from teachers. Photograph: Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miroįollowing a TB diagnosis at the age of three and at a doctor’s advice to leave Lisbon, Rego’s parents built a house in Estoril, where she lived surrounded by trees and sea air, as well as her grandparents’ summer house in Ericeira. A detail from The Family, 1988 Acrylic on Paper 213.4 x 213.4 cm.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |