Paula Rego
Paula Figueiroa Rego, (born 1935) is a Portuguese painter, illustrator
and printmaker
Rego was born in Lisbon within a rich family, during Salazar´s
regime, which would be a later influence in her work. Rego was
sent to St Julian's School, Carcavelos, Portugal before studying
at the Slade School of Art where she met the artist Victor Willing,
whom she eventually married. The two divided their time between
Portugal and England until 1975, when they moved to England
permanently. In 1988, Willing died after suffering for some
years from multiple sclerosis. Mother-in-law to Ron Mueck whose
career she influenced, Rego was shortlisted for the Turner Prize
in 1989 and was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Letters honoris
causa by Oxford University in June 2005.
She started painting at the age of four. Her work often gives
a sinister edge to storybook imagery, emphasizing malicious
domination or the subversion of natural order. She deals with
social realities that are polemic, an example being her important
Triptych (1998) on the subject of abortion, now in the collection
of Abbot Hall Art Gallery in Kendal. Rego's style is often compared
to cartoon illustration. As in cartoons, animals are often depicted
in human roles and situations. Later work adopts a more realistic
style, but sometimes keeps the animal references — the
Dog Woman series of the 1990s, for example, is a set of pastel
pictures depicting women in a variety of dog-like poses (on
all fours, baying at the moon, and so on).[2]
Rego has also painted a portrait of Germaine Greer, which is
in the National Portrait Gallery in London, as well as the official
presidency portrait of Jorge Sampaio. Rego only ever painted
one self-portrait including her grand daughter, Grace Smart,
that sold for some £300,000.
