Paula Figueiroa Rego, GCSE (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpaulɐ ˈʁeɡu]; born 1935) is a Portuguese painter, illustrator and printmaker, who has lived in Britain since 1951. [1] She was born in Lisbon to a rich family, during Salazar´s regime, which would be a later influence in her work.
Education
Rego started painting at the age of four. She attended the English-language Saint Julian's School, Carcavelos, Portugal before studying at the Slade School of Art, London where she met the British artist Victor Willing, whom she eventually married.
Career
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. Her 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]
Clothes play an important role in Rego's work, as pieces of her visual story-telling. Many of the clothes worn by models and mannequins in her work are representative of the frocks she wore as a child in Portugal. Rego's thoughts on how the clothes show character are as follows:
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‘clothes enclose the body and tighten it and give you a feeling of wholeness. You are contained inside your clothes. So I put them in the pictures’.[1] |
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In 1989, Rego was shortlisted for the Turner Prize and in June 2005 was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Letters honoris causa by Oxford University.
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 which included her grand daughter, Grace Smart, that sold for some £300,000.
In September 18, 2009 a new Museum dedicated to the work of Paula Rego, opened in Cascais, Portugal. [3] The building was designed by the architect Eduardo Souto Moura and it is called Casa das Histórias Paula Rego / Paula Rego - House of Stories. [4]
Personal life
Rego and her husband, Willing, 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 of Nick Willing (born 1961) - film director. A graduate of the National Film and Television school (1982) he began his career directing commercials and music videos for such artists as The Eurythmics, Bob Geldof, and Swing Out Sister. Feature films as either writer or director (or both) include: "Photographing Faires" (1997), "Doctor Sleep" (2002), and Alice (2009 - TV). Known for magical use of animation and live action work where animals have human qualities and features, much like the work of his mother.
Rego is the mother-in-law to Ron Mueck, whose career she has significantly influenced.
References
External links
- Paula Rego House of Stories - Paula Rego Museum
- Paula Rego at Galeria 111 - Paula Rego has been represented by the Gallery 111 Lisbon and Oporto, in Portugal, since 1978
- Paula's Playground - Every Picture Tells Her Story - courtesy of Thinkquest
- Secret Histories - Guardian UK article (Maya Jaggi), profiling Paula Rego
- Don't flinch, don't hide - Guardian UK interview (Suzie Mackenzie) with Paula Rego
- Articles about Paula Rego
- View works by Paula Rego online
- The Saatchi Gallery; About Paula Rego and her art by Paul Coldwell Additional information on Paula Rego including artworks, text panels, articles, and full biography
- Paula Rego: Celestina's House (12 June - 7 October 2001) Exhibition at Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal
- Abortion Triptych, 1998 Important pastel triptych on the subject of abortion
- AI Interview with Paula Rego
- Paula Rego-Printmaker, London Marlborough Graphics ISBN 1-904372-25-2 (2005) by Paul Coldwell
- Paula Rego BBC GCSE Bitesize Art
