Paula Rego (British/Portuguese, b.1935) is a female painter whose work has been characterized by a strong narrative style that tells of tension beneath the surface. She was born in Lisbon, Portugal, into a middle-class home. When she was still a child, her father''s work took him to the United Kingdom. His wife followed him, but Rego remained in Portugal with her grandmother. She grew up hearing traditional folk stories from her grandmother and the family maid, and these stories influence her work greatly. She was schooled at Saint Julian''s School in Carcavelos, Portugal, from 1945 to 1951. In 1952, she wanted to enroll in the Chelsea School of Art in London, England, but her legal guardian at the time prevented her, fearful that her parents may not want her to interact with art students. However, her parents had no qualms about this, so she enrolled in the Slade School of Fine Art in London. She attended this school from 1952 to 1956, and, while studying there, she met Victor Willing, who would become her husband. From 1957 to 1963, she lived with her husband in Ericeira, Portugal. From 1963 to 1975, they divided their time between London and Portugal. She finally settled permanently in London in 1976.
When Rego was starting out, her work leaned more towards the Abstract style of painting, largely because it was the dominant style at the time. It was also partly because she was rebelling against her lecturers, who had placed lots of emphasis on anatomical figure drawing. In 1990, she was appointed artist-in-residence at the First National Gallery, London. Upon her appointment, she began to paint in the linear style she had learned at the Slade School. She prefers to use pastels and rarely uses oil paint. Her influences include Juan Miro (Spanish, 1893–1983), Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973), Jean Philipe Dubuffet (French, 1901–1985), Walt Disney (American, 1901–1966), and caricaturists.
Her most famous works include the Dog Women series. The series depicts women as behaving like dogs. Other notable works include the Nursery Rhymes etchings. Her work continues to be showcased in institutions such as the Tate Gallery in London, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, and The British Council. In 2010, she was made a Dame of the British Empire, making her the fourth woman painter to receive this honor. The artist continues to live and work in London.
