Discover new books on Goodreads

See if your friends have read any of Paula Rego's books

Paula Rego’s Followers (11)

Paula Rego

Born

in Lisbon, Portugal

January 26, 1935

Website

http://www.casadashistoriaspaularego.com/en/

Genre

Arts & Photography

Influences

Impressionism, Surrealism and Feminism

edit data

Paula Rego was born in Lisbon on 26 January 1935. She grew up in a republican and liberal family, linked to both English and French culture, and studied at St. Julian's School in Carcavelos, spending her childhood and adolescence in Estoril. In the 1950s, her father encouraged her to pursue her artistic career away from the Portugal of Salazar's dictatorship, and Paula Rego enrolled at the prestigious Slade School of Fine Art in London, aged just 17. She met several artists at the school, including her future husband, Victor Willing, whom she married in 1959 and with whom she would later have three children (Carolina, Victoria and Nicholas).

A painter and art critic, Victor Willing (1928, Alexandria - 1988, London) became one of the foremost Paula Rego was born in Lisbon on 26 January 1935. She grew up in a republican and liberal family, linked to both English and French culture, and studied at St. Julian's School in Carcavelos, spending her childhood and adolescence in Estoril. In the 1950s, her father encouraged her to pursue her artistic career away from the Portugal of Salazar's dictatorship, and Paula Rego enrolled at the prestigious Slade School of Fine Art in London, aged just 17. She met several artists at the school, including her future husband, Victor Willing, whom she married in 1959 and with whom she would later have three children (Carolina, Victoria and Nicholas).

A painter and art critic, Victor Willing (1928, Alexandria - 1988, London) became one of the foremost critics of Paula Rego's work and, on several occasions, made what have proved to be some fundamental interpretations of her work. In fact, many of her pieces contain either explicit or implicit references to "Vic". These references are most noticeable in work produced from the mid-1980s, while her husband was in the final stages of the multiple sclerosis which eventually led to his death.

Having divided her time between Portugal and London throughout the 1960s, Paula Rego settled permanently in London in 1976. However, she continued to visit Portugal frequently, returning mostly to her family home in Ericeira. This house was to become a regular feature of her artistic work, since it held many memories and evoked images relating to a certain "Portuguese culture" she associated with her childhood. A further link to Portuguese culture would come later, in the form of Lila Nunes, Vic's former nurse, who is of Portuguese background and has been Paula's favourite model since 1988.

Paula Rego's work got her important recognition fairly early on in her career but it was in particular after the 1990s, when the artist was already in her fifties, that she became a fundamental reference not only in Portuguese and English art circles, but all over the world. She was regularly invited to produce work for galleries and specific exhibitions, often establishing a dialogue with their collections. In 1990, she was appointed the first Associated Artist of the National Gallery in London.

With her prodigious imagination, Paula Rego has explored many different techniques and artistic languages over the course of her career, while continuing to display surprising coherence throughout her work. She has held countless solo and retrospective exhibitions at leading international museums and galleries, as well as winning a host of awards and prizes.

She currently lives and works in London, and is represented by Marlborough Fine Art. ...more

Combine Editions
Paula Rego’s books

Average rating: 4.03 · 327 ratings · 22 reviews · 60 distinct works • Similar authors

	Jane Eyre by Paula Rego, Marina Warner (Introdução) 4.55 avg rating — 40 ratings — published 2003 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	O Crime Do Padre Amaro 3.98 avg rating — 45 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Paula Rego: Nursery Rhymes by Paula Rego, Marina Warner 4.70 avg rating — 27 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nursery Rhymes 4.19 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 1990 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Paula Rego: Visions of English Literature by Paula Rego (Artist), Marco Livingstone, Rosanna Mclaughlin 4.42 avg rating — 12 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Paula Rego: Obedience and Defiance by Paula Rego (Artist), Kate Zambreno (Contributor), Catherine Lampert (Editor) 4.67 avg rating — 9 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sopa de pedra 3.70 avg rating — 10 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Rego Paula Jane Eyre and Other Stories 4.33 avg rating — 6 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Paula Rego by Paula Rego, Judy Collins, Ruth Rosengarten 3.67 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2009 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Stone Soup 4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Paula Rego…

Quotes by Paula Rego (?)

“If you put frightening things into a picture then they can't harm you. If fact, you end becoming quite fond of them.”
― Paula Rego

2 likes

“Art is the only place you can do what you like. That's freedom.”
― Paula Rego

tags: art

0 likes

“Every change is a form of liberation. My mother used to say a change is always good even if it's for the worse.”
― Paula Rego

0 likes

See all Paula Rego's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Reading For P...: Jean's Book Nook 2016	150	95	Jan 01, 2017 02:48AM
The Reading For P...: January-February Classic Group Read - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë	65	94	Oct 03, 2019 03:34PM
The Reading For P...: Jean's Charles Dickens challenge	1052	294	Jan 01, 2021 03:26PM
Litwit Lounge: Jean's Charles Dickens Challenge	499	30	Aug 20, 2021 02:57PM

More…

Is this you? Let us know. If not, help out and invite Paula to Goodreads.

Paula Rego’s Followers (11)

Paula Rego

Combine EditionsPaula Rego’s books

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Paula Rego’s books