About the Artist
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.
Survey: Selected Works
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Painting Him Out, 2011
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Impailed, 2008
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Triptych, 1998
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Angel, 1998
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Target, 1995
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Dog Woman, 1994
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Study for Crivelli's Garden, 1990-1
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The Fitting, 1989
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The Dance, 1988
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The Family, 1988
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The Policeman's Daughter, 1987
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The Little Murderess, 1987
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The Drowned Bear AKA In and Out of the Sea, 1985
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Red Monkey Beats His Wife, 1981
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Paris, 1976
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Stray Dogs (The Dogs of Barcelona), 1965
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Exile, 1963
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Salazar Vomiting the Homeland, 1960
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Portrait of a Lady, 1959
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.