Paula Rego
Paula Rego
Paula Rego
Paula Rego
Paula Rego
Paula Rego
Paula Rego
Paula Rego
Paula Rego
Paula Rego
Paula Rego
Paula Rego
Paula Rego
Paula Rego
An artist of uncompromising vision and a peerless storyteller, Paula Rego (1935–2022) brought immense psychological insight and imaginative power to the genre of figurative art. Drawing upon details of her own extraordinary life, on politics and art history, on literature, folk legends, myths and fairytales, Rego’s work at its heart is an exploration of human relationships, her piercing eye trained on the established order and the codes, structures and dynamics of power that embolden or repress the characters she depicts. Often turning hierarchies on their heads, her tableaux, whether tender or tragic, consider the complexities of human experience and the experience of women in particular. She is especially celebrated for works that forcibly address aspects of female agency and resolve, suffering and survival, such as the Dog Women series, begun in 1994, the Abortion series, 1998–99, which is considered to have influenced Portugal’s successful second referendum on the legalisation of abortion in 2007, and the recent series Female Genital Mutilation, 2008–09.
Rego’s art transcends the art world. She is heralded as a feminist icon and is a household name. In her native Portugal the government commissioned the celebrated architect Eduardo Souto de Moura to design and build a museum dedicated exclusively to her work – Paula Rego’s House of Stories, situated in Cascais, which opened to the public in 2009. In the UK, where she attended the Slade School of Fine Art from 1952–56, her first major solo exhibition in London was held at AIR Gallery in 1981, followed in 1988 by an exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery. She was appointed the first National Gallery Associate Artist in 1989–90. She has been the subject of numerous books and TV programmes, including Paula Rego, Secrets & Stories, a BBC documentary directed by the artist’s son Nick Willing, which won the Royal Television Award for Best Arts Program in 2018, and The Southbank Show in 1992 and 2007. Her art continues to have an enduring influence upon younger generations, who are introduced to her work through the GCSE syllabus. In 2010 she was made a Dame of The British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
About the artist
Dame Paula Rego RA was born in 1935 in Lisbon, Portugal. She died in London on 8 June 2022.
The largest and most comprehensive retrospective of Rego’s work to date was held at Tate Britain in 2021 (7 July–24 October 2021) and travelled to Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Netherlands (27 November 2021–20 March 2022), and Museo Picasso Málaga, Spain (26 April–21 August 2022). Works by the artist featured in the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, The Milk of Dreams, curated by Cecilia Alemani (23 April–27 November 2022).
Other current and recent major solo exhibitions include Paula Rego: Power Games, Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland (28 September 2024–2 February 2025); Paula Rego: Visions of English Literature, Lakeside Arts, Nottingham, UK (21 September 2024–5 January 2025); Paula Rego: Manifesto, Casa das Histórias Paula Rego, Cascais, Portugal (18 April–6 October 2024); Paula Rego: Crivelli's Garden, The National Gallery, London, UK (20 July–29 October 2023); Paula Rego: The Story of Stories, Pera Museum, Istanbul, Turkey (23 December 2022–30 April 2023 ); Paula Rego: Subversive Stories, featuring prints from across her career, at Arnolfini, Bristol, UK (5 February–29 May 2022); Paula Rego: Literary Inspirations at Petersfield Museum, Hampshire, UK (23 March–9 July 2022); Power Games, Museum De Reede, Antwerp, Belgium (30 July–25 October 2021), and Paula Rego: Obedience and Defiance, curated by Catherine Lampert, which travelled from MK Gallery, Milton Keynes to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh in 2019–2020 and was on view at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin from September 2020–May 2021.
Paula Rego – The Scream of Imagination | In Keys, organised by the Serralves Foundation, was recently on view at MACNA – Museu de Arte Contemporânea Nadir Afonso, Chaves, Portugal. Other recent solo exhibitions include: Giving Fear a Face, CEART: Centro de Arte Tomás y Valiente, Madrid, Spain (2019); The Cruel Stories of Paula Rego, Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, France (2018–2019) and Folktales and Fairy Tales, Casa das Histórias Paula Rego, Cascais, Portugal (2018). Exhibitions of her work have been held previously at venues including: Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Gas Natural Fenosa, La Coruña, Spain (2014); the Museum of Contemporary Art, Monterrey, Mexico; Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Brazil (2010-2011); École supérieure des beaux-arts, Nîmes, France (2008); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C., USA (2007–2008); Fundação das Descobertas, Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon, Portugal (1997) Tate Liverpool, UK (1996–1997); AIR Gallery, London, UK (1981).Recent international group exhibitions include All Too Human: Bacon Freud and a Century of Painting, Tate Britain, London, UK (2018); travelled to Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary; Post-Pop, Outside the Commonplace, Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, Portugal (2018); Macau Biennial, Macau Museum of Art, Macau, China (2018); Bacon, Freud and the School of London, Museo Picasso, Malaga, Spain; travelled to ARoS, Aarhus, Denmark (2017–2018). Her work is in the collections of numerous museums including the British Museum, Tate, National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery, London, UK; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, USA; The Art Institute of Chicago, USA and the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, USA.
In 2010, she was made a Dame of the British Empire for services to the Arts in the Queen’s Birthday Honours and was awarded the prestigious Grã-Cruz da Ordem de Sant’Iago da Espada from the President of Portugal in 2004. Rego has received several Honorary Doctorates from universities including the University of St. Andrews (1999), University of East Anglia (1999), Rhode Island School of Design (2000), The London Institute (2002), Oxford University (2005), Roehampton University (2005), Faculdade de Belas-Artes at the University of Lisbon (2011), and the University of Cambridge (2015).
She was the recipient of many awards such as the Honors Medal of the city of Lisbon, Portugal (2016), the Maria Isabel Barreno prize (2017), Portuguese Government’s Medal of Cultural Merit (2019) and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Harper’s Bazaar (2019).
In Focus – Paula Rego: Secrets of Faith
An excerpt of Paula Rego: Secrets & Stories, the 2017 feature documentary directed by the artist’s son, filmmaker Nick Willing. Works relate to the exhibiton Paula Rego: Secrets of Faith, on view at Victoria Miro Venice, 23 April–18 June 2022.
Related
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Gallery Exhibition
21 November 2024 - 18 January 2025
Motion in Stillness: Dance and the Human Body in Movement
Presented by Vortic and Victoria Miro, Motion in Stillness: Dance and the Human Body in Movement presents works by artists who all have a relationship with dance or with the human body in movement. Victoria Miro Gallery II -
Exhibition
Posted
October 30 2024
Paula Rego features in Women & Freud: Patients, Pioneers, Artists at the Freud Museum
Highlighting the women who helped Freud invent psychoanalysis and their legacy in its practice — as well as in the arts and literature to the present day — the exhibition (30 October–5 May 2025) draws on manuscripts, images, objects, visuals, and film footage to bring to life the many women who featured in Freud's history, and those affected by his considerable body of thinking, rethinking, and practice. Freud Museum, London -
News story
Posted
October 14 2024
Two paintings by Paula Rego are now on display at No.10 Downing Street
Two scenes from Rego's mural Crivelli’s Garden (1990-91) have replaced portraits of Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Raleigh. London, UK Gareth Harris, The Art Newspaper -
Exhibition
Posted
September 28 2024
Paula Rego: Power Games at Kunstmuseum Basel
This comprehensive exhibition (28 September 2024–2 February 2025), the first major presentation of Rego’s work in Switzerland, features paintings and other works drawn from five decades of the artist’s career. Basel, Switzerland -
Review
Posted
September 26 2024
The Times reviews Uncanny Visions: Paula Rego and Francisco de Goya
★★★★ 'Exposing the primal, the perverse, the forbidden, these artists distil a brooding atmosphere of menace.' – Rachel Campbell Johnston Rachel Campbell Johnston -
Preview
Posted
August 28 2024
Jackie Wullschläger previews two major Paula Rego exhibitions in the Financial Times
Forthcoming exhibitions at The Holburne Museum, Bath and Lakeside Arts’ Djanogly Gallery at the University of Nottingham, both opening this September, contextualise Rego’s celebrated Nursery Rhymes works. Jackie Wullschläger, Financial Times -
Exhibition
Posted
August 27 2024
Hayward Gallery Touring announces Paula Rego: Visions of English Literature, opening in Nottingham this September
This new exhibition, premiering at Lakeside Arts’ Djanogly Gallery at the University of Nottingham (21 September 2024–5 January 2025) showcases the artist’s printmaking practice, taking a deep look into the literary influences that have inspired Rego’s work. Lakeside Arts’ Djanogly Gallery at the University of Nottingham -
Exhibition
Posted
June 22 2024
Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood, featuring Chantal Joffe, Wangechi Mutu, Celia Paul and Paula Rego, travels to Midlands Art Centre
Hayward Gallery Touring’s major group exhibition explores lived experience of motherhood through over 100 artworks. -
Exhibition
Posted
April 17 2024
Paula Rego Manifesto at the Casa das Histórias Paula Rego
This exhibition (18 April–6 October 2024) explores themes from Portugal's history including the country's dictatorship and colonialism, as well as the post-revolutionary period and women's rights, as context for Rego's work over the course of her career. Cascais, Portugal -
Exhibition
Posted
March 9 2024
Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood, featuring Chantal Joffe, Wangechi Mutu, Celia Paul and Paula Rego, on view at Arnolfini, Bristol
★★★★★ ‘Acts of Creation is riveting from first to last, an exceptional (and touring) anthology of contemporary artworks to startle, move and awe, all one hundred and more plunging deep into motherhood.’ – Laura Cumming, The Observer Arnolfini, Bristol -
Exhibition
Posted
December 13 2023
On view in Portugal – Paula Rego: Rupture and Continuity
On view (until 28 July 2024) at the Museu do Côa, the exhibition considers Rego's constant redefinition of her figurative language, highlighting key periods in her career. Museu do Côa, Portugal -
Review
Posted
October 25 2023
Paula Rego: Letting Loose is reviewed by Hyperallergic
To enter Paula Rego’s paintings is to step into a tumbling, chaotic world of animals living out modern human life. Around the world, animal folktales offer a way to explore human behavior from an acceptable distance. AX Mina, Hyperallergic -
News story
Posted
October 13 2023
The Evening Standard includes Ali Banisadr and Paula Rego in the best free London exhibitions
The Evening Standard includes Ali Banisadr: The Changing Past and Paula Rego: Letting Loose in the best free exhibitions on view in London. Nancy Durrant, Evening Standard -
Preview
Posted
October 11 2023
Harper’s Bazaar features Paula Rego: Letting Loose
‘The paintings are in keeping with her career-long fascination with the animal nature of humans, often using the poses and expressions of wild creatures to convey urges that contemporary society encourages us to suppress.’ – Emily Steer Emily Steer, Harper's Bazaar -
Preview
Posted
October 11 2023
Paula Rego: Letting Loose features in the Frieze critics’ guide to London exhibitions
‘It’s not hard to see why these works so significantly boosted Rego’s reputation: they are vibrant, humorous and astonishingly detailed, drawing on illustrations for children’s books to create their own idiosyncratic world.’ – Juliet Jacques Juliet Jacques, Frieze -
Review
Posted
October 9 2023
Chloë Ashby reviews Real Families: Stories of Change for The Guardian
‘Among the best is Chantal Joffe, who remembers realising while she was studying at the Royal College of Art in the early 1990s not only that she could paint her parents, but that it was a good way of contemplating her relationship with them. Ever since, she has committed herself and the rest of her family to canvas again and again.’ Chloë Ashby, The Guardian -
Exhibition
Posted
October 5 2023
On view in Cambridge: Real Families: Stories of Change, featuring Chantal Joffe, Alice Neel, Celia Paul, Grayson Perry and Paula Rego
Bringing together more than 120 artworks spanning painting, photography, sculpture and film, the exhibition (6 October 2023–7 January 2024) asks us to consider what makes a family today, and the impact our families have on us, through the eyes of contemporary artists. The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge -
Feature
Posted
October 3 2023
The Art Newspaper Book Club: Paula Rego
All you ever wanted to know about Rego, from the best catalogues to a behind-the-scenes dive into her studio – six must-read books selected by her son Nick Willing. The Art Newspaper -
Review
Posted
October 2 2023
Hannah Silver for Wallpaper* reviews Paula Rego: Letting Loose
‘Her work in the 1980s encompassed this tension in the juxtaposition between the childlike joy she took in the rapid way she created her work and the grown-up themes it represented.’ Hannah Silver, Wallpaper* -
Gallery Exhibition
22 September - 11 November 2023
Paula Rego: Letting Loose
An exhibition of works from the 1980s, a period of liberation and self-discovery that led to great breakthroughs for the artist and saw her first major exhibitions in the UK and the US. Victoria Miro Gallery I -
Publications
September 20 2023
Paula Rego: Letting Loose
Paula Rego: Letting LooseNot currently available£ 50.000 in cart -
Preview
Posted
September 2 2023
Growing up with Paula Rego – Nick Willing features in The Times
Ahead of a new exhibition at Victoria Miro, the artist’s son recalls how Rego tore up the rule book at home and in the studio. The Times -
Review
Posted
July 30 2023
Laura Cumming reviews Paula Rego: Crivelli’s Garden
★★★★ ‘… a lasting testimony to Rego’s mind and art, destined to return to a permanent spot in the Sainsbury Wing when it reopens in 2024 following refurbishment.’ Laura Cumming, The Observer -
Review
Posted
July 20 2023
Jackie Wullschläger reviews Paula Rego: Crivelli’s Garden
‘…this exhibition pinpoints a pivotal work in British art history and, a year after her death, raises our sense of Rego’s originality and impact higher than ever.’ Jackie Wullschläger , The Financial Times -
News
Posted
July 18 2023
Paula Rego: Crivelli’s Garden is reviewed in The Times
★★★★ ‘What at first glance seems a still and frieze-like composition, with its distinct figures lost in their own occupations, turns out to be teeming with sorcery, transformation, revelry, lust, loss and pursuit.’ – Laura Freeman Laura Freeman, The Times -
Review
Posted
July 18 2023
Paula Rego: Crivelli’s Garden is reviewed by Ben Luke
★★★★ ‘As so often, Rego brings an almost hallucinatory vision to her subject matter. She creates a world rooted in the here and now but propels us into the realms of the imagination.’ Ben Luke, Evening Standard -
Exhibition
Posted
July 10 2023
Paula Rego: Crivelli’s Garden at the National Gallery
On view 20 July–29 October 2023, this exhibition explores the relationship between Paula Rego’s monumental painting and the 15th-century altarpiece and National Gallery staff that inspired it. National Gallery, London -
Exhibition
Posted
June 13 2023
On view at Tate Modern – Capturing the Moment, featuring Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Alice Neel and Paula Rego
Subtitled A Journey Through Painting and Photography, the exhibition (13 June 2023–28 January 2024) explores the dynamic relationship between the two mediums through some of the most iconic artworks of recent times. Tate Modern, London -
Exhibition
Posted
June 13 2023
The RA Summer Exhibition opens at the Royal Academy of Arts
On view are works by Victoria Miro artists Ali Banisadr, Chantal Joffe, Paula Rego, and Conrad Shawcross. Royal Academy of Arts -
Exhibition
Posted
May 23 2023
Works by Kudzanai Violet-Hwami, Chris Ofili, Paula Rego and Stephen Willats feature in Tate Britain’s rehang
Tate Britain has just opened a complete rehang of its collection — the first time in 10 years that the the gallery's free displays have been presented anew. Much-loved and iconic works are joined by a host of new discoveries and additions. See works by VM artists Kudzanai Violet-Hwami, Chris Ofili, Paula Rego, and Stephen Willats among the 800 works by over 350 artists spanning six centuries. -
Review
Posted
December 31 2022
Alice Neel and Paula Rego are included in The FT’s visual arts roundup of 2022
Jackie Wullschläger highlights Alice Neel and Paula Rego in The FT’s visual arts round up of the past year. Jackie Wullschläger, The FT -
Preview
Posted
December 27 2022
Isaac Julien, Alice Neel and Paula Rego feature in The Guardian’s 2023 culture preview
Isaac Julien, Alice Neel and Paula Rego feature in The Guardian’s art-design to-do list for the year ahead. The Guardian -
Exhibition
Posted
December 12 2022
Paula Rego: The Story of Stories at Pera Museum, Istanbul
The exhibition (23 December 2022–30 April 2023), curated by Alistair Hicks, re-affirms the importance of Rego's work in Portugal in the 1960s and focuses on her emergence as an important artist on the London scene in the 1980s and 1990s. Pera Museum, Istanbul -
Exhibition
Posted
October 30 2022
Paula Rego: There and Back Again at Kestner Gesellschaft
This major exhibition (30 October 2022–29 January 2023) is centred around the artist’s 1990 masterpiece Crivelli’s Garden. Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover -
News story
Posted
June 8 2022
Paula Rego, 1935–2022
It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of the Portuguese-British artist Dame Paula Rego at the age of 87. She died peacefully this morning, after a short illness, at home in North London, surrounded by her family. Our heartfelt thoughts are with her children, Nick, Cas and Victoria Willing, and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. -
News story
Posted
June 8 2022
Remembering Paula Rego
'Paula Rego was a fearless artist who painted life and the world head-on. A remarkable, dazzling, and powerful force for good and for change. I am proud that the gallery has been able to celebrate and promote her work in the last years of her life. We have lost a very great artist'. – Victoria Miro -
Review
Posted
April 27 2022
‘A room dedicated to the work of Paula Rego… was the best thing.’ – ArtReview reviews the 59th Venice Biennale exhibition The Milk of Dreams
Mark Rappolt reviews the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia – The Milk of Dreams, curated by Cecilia Alemani. Mark Rappolt, ArtReview -
Exhibition
Posted
April 26 2022
Paula Rego at Museo Picasso Málaga
Travelling from Tate Britain and Kunstmuseum Den Haag, the largest retrospective of the artist's work to date is on view in Málaga, 26 April–21 August 2022. Museo Picasso Málaga -
Review
Posted
April 24 2022
‘The triumph… is a magnificent presentation of paintings and stuffed figures by Paula Rego’ – Laura Cumming reviews the Venice Biennale
'Of the 213 artists, only 21 are men, which represents a complete reversal. More striking still is the novelty of walking through half a mile of art with scarcely a... Laura Cumming, The Observer -
Gallery Exhibition
23 April - 18 June 2022
Paula Rego: Secrets of Faith
Completed in 2002, the works on view depict episodes from the life of the Virgin Mary – subjects familiar in Christian art radically retold by Rego that are among the most special to the artist. Victoria Miro Venice -
Channel
April 23 2022
Paula Rego: Secrets of Faith
An excerpt of Paula Rego: Secrets & Stories, the 2017 feature documentary directed by the artist’s son, filmmaker Nick Willing. Works relate to the exhibiton Paula Rego: Secrets of Faith, on view at Victoria Miro Venice, 23 April–18 June 2022. -
Exhibition
Posted
April 18 2022
On view at La Biennale di Venezia 2022
Stan Douglas represents Canada, and Paula Rego and Kudzanai-Violet Hwami are featured in The Milk of Dreams, curated by Cecilia Alemani, at the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Venice, Italy -
Interview
Posted
April 9 2022
Paula Rego features on a special cover of La Repubblica’s d magazine for La Biennale di Venezia
The cover features Rego's The Blue Fairy Whispering to Pinocchio, 1996: 'Fables are important in our culture, they speak of profound things. My aunt Ludgera used to tell me stories every day and later in life I found it liberating to go and study them. They weren't moralistic and I like that. But revelatory: they spoke of cruelty and sacrifice.' La Repubblica -
News story
Posted
April 5 2022
Paula Rego: Secrets of Faith is featured in AnOther’s round up of things to do in April
Paula Rego: Secrets of Faith is featured in AnOther's Brilliant things to do in April. AnOther -
Interview
Posted
March 8 2022
The Art Newspaper features Paula Rego interviewed by artists including Tracey Emin, Cecily Brown and Marlene Dumas from her recent exhibition and book The Forgotten
‘I was always very shy and there were many things I wouldn’t have spoken about in real life, but in my paintings I could do anything. It’s allowed in pictures.’ José da Silva, The Art Newspaper -
Exhibition
Posted
February 2 2022
Paula Rego is invited to participate in the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia
The 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, titled The Milk of Dreams, curated by Cecilia Alemani, will open to the public from 23 April– 27 November 2022. Venice, Italy -
Exhibition
Posted
February 1 2022
Paula Rego: Subversive Stories at Arnolfini, Bristol
Featuring over 80 prints from across Rego’s extensive career, the exhibition (5 February–29 May 2022) explores her interweaving wit and dark humour, delving into the art of storytelling through Rego’s reinterpretations of well-known narratives and classic tales, repositioning the role of women at their centre. Arnolfini, Bristol -
Publication
Posted
January 18 2022
Out now – Paula Rego: The Forgotten, a new publication
This beautifully designed book celebrates the important presentation of forty works by Paula Rego in her first exhibition at Victoria Miro, London. Victoria Miro -
Interview
Posted
December 17 2021
Paula Rego is interviewed by the FT
Read an exclusive interview with Paula Rego in the FT. Louis Wise, Financial Times -
News story
Posted
December 2 2021
Paula Rego included in the FT’s 25 most influential women of 2021
The Financial Times features Paula Rego as one of the 25 most influential women of 2021. Jan Dalley, Financial Times -
Exhibition
Posted
November 27 2021
Paula Rego at Kunstmuseum Den Haag
Travelling from Tate Britain, the largest retrospective of the artist's work to date is on view 27 November 2021–20 March 2022. Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Netherlands -
Gallery Exhibition
19 November 2021 - 12 February 2022
Paula Rego: The Forgotten
Testament to a career spent exploring hidden narratives and their associated stigmas, The Forgotten encircles themes and subjects that are often masked or concealed – out of politeness or embarrassment – such as mental illness and old age. -
Review
Posted
November 18 2021
Paula Rego: The Forgotten reviewed by the Evening Standard
★★★★ 'This show reflects how Rego employs drawing, using different tools and media, to create hugely varied tones, moods and effects.' – Ben Luke Ben Luke, Evening Standard -
Interview
Posted
October 1 2021
The Great Women Artists Podcast – Nick Willing on Paula Rego
In this new episode, Katy Hessel visits the studio of Paula Rego to speak with the artist's son, Nick Willing, about his mother's life and work. -
Profile
Posted
August 25 2021
Frieze’s September issue cover story: The Power and Pain of Paula Rego’s Women
For the cover story of the new issue of Frieze, Katherine Angel profiles 'one of Britain's most inventive and compelling living artists.' Katherine Angel, Frieze -
Exhibition
Posted
July 20 2021
Paula Rego at Hogarth’s House
The exhibition (20 July–26 November 2021) features prints from throughout the artist’s career and explores how her admiration for William Hogarth has inspired elements of her work. Hogarth's House, London -
Review
Posted
July 11 2021
‘Stunning is an understatement’, Laura Cumming reviews Paula Rego in The Observer
Violence, eroticism and oppression converge as Rego’s deeply ambiguous work goes straight for the subconscious in this mesmerising seven-decade retrospective Laura Cumming, The Observer -
Review
Posted
July 7 2021
The Financial Times reviews Paula Rego at Tate Britain
‘This retrospective proves no artist has more powerfully subverted male painterly tradition to express the modern female experience.’ Jackie Wullschläger , The Financial Times -
Exhibition
Posted
July 7 2021
Paula Rego at Tate Britain
The exhibition (7 July–24 October 2021) tells the story of the artist’s extraordinary life, highlighting the personal nature of much of her work and the socio-political context in which it is rooted. It also reveals her broad range of references, from comic strips to history painting. Tate Britain, London -
Review
Posted
July 4 2021
Rachel Campbell-Johnston reviews Paula Rego at Tate Britain
★★★★★ 'Rego, 86, offers us an unflinching view of the instinctive human animal — however creepy or painful, ferocious or cruel. Her pictures are not fantasies: they are heartfelt revelations. She deserves to be feted among the greats.' Rachel Campbell-Johnston, The Times
Previous exhibitions at Victoria Miro
Paula Rego: Letting Loose
An exhibition of works from the 1980s, a period of liberation and self-discovery that led to great breakthroughs for the artist and saw her first major exhibitions in the UK and the US.Paula Rego: Secrets of Faith
Completed in 2002, the works on view depict episodes from the life of the Virgin Mary – subjects familiar in Christian art radically retold by Rego that are among the most special to the artist.
Paula Rego: The Forgotten
Testament to a career spent exploring hidden narratives and their associated stigmas, The Forgotten encircles themes and subjects that are often masked or concealed – out of politeness or embarrassment – such as mental illness and old age.
The Sky was Blue the Sea was Blue and the Boy was Blue
An exhibition of work by 19 artists celebrating the colour blue, available online and on Vortic as part of The London Collective.