Paula Rego was a Portuguese-British artist known for her feminist paintings.
- Died: June 8, 2022 (Who else died on June 8?)
- Details of death: Died at her home in London at the age of 87.
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Acclaimed career
A native of Portugal, Rego began studying in England as a teen and went on to make her life and career there. Her art centered on figures of people and animals, often deliberately unsettling; she referred to her work as “the beautiful grotesque.” When her career began in the 1950s, Rego had trouble breaking into the male-dominated art world, where abstract art was then the standard. But over the years, she gained increasing attention and acclaim for her work. The feminist themes she explored included abortion rights, as she painted a series of women recovering from abortions in response to a 1998 failure to overturn the ban on the procedure in her native country. She also often incorporated fairy tale characters into her work, as well as scenes from Portuguese folktales. Rega was widely honored, including being named a Dame of the British Empire in 2010, one of England’s highest honors.
Notable quote
“You discover things in the making of a painting. It can reveal things that you didn’t expect. Things you keep secret from yourself.” —from a 2021 interview for the Guardian
Tributes to Paula Rego
Full obituary: The Washington Post
