Renowned for her cartoon-like artistry, Portuguese artist Paula Figueiroa Rego came to fame in England in 1989 when she was a finalist for the 1989 Turner Prize.
The Lisbon-born (1935) artist/illustrator is also known for her printmaking, came from a rich background and studied at the Slade School of Art, where she met her future husband, Victor Willing.
The couple spent time commuting between the UK and Portugal, eventually moving permanently to England in 1975.
With her husband dying from Multiple sclerosis in 1988, Rego had a strong influence on her son-in-law, Ron Mueck, developing his career.
Rego, who has painted since she was four, is known for menacing edge to her work and is known as a passionate critic of life. Her 1998 work Triptych about abortion now hangs in Kendal’s Abbot Hall Art Gallery.
Her often described “cartoon-like” work, like traditional cartoons, often shows humans in animal form, as exemplified by her nineteen nineties Dog Woman series, portraying females in traditional dog poses, such as on four feet, howling at the moon, and the like.
Her Germaine Greer portrait now hangs in London’s National Portrait Gallery, and she was commissioned to do the official portrait of President Jorge Sampaio, but has only ever done one portrait of herself, which included Grace Smart, her granddaughter, and which went for over£300,000 when sold.
