Dame Paula Rego: Portuguese-British visual artist dies, aged 87
Influential Portugese-British visual artist Dame Paula Rego has died, aged 87.
Contemporary art gallery Victoria Miro announced the news on Twitter, writing on Wednesday (8 June): “It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of the Portuguese-born, British artist Dame Paula Rego at the age of 87.”
“She died peacefully this morning, after a short illness, at home in North London, surrounded by her family. Our heartfelt thoughts are with them.”
Rego, who was born in Portugal, was best known for her paintings based on folk tale storybooks. Over the years, her style evolved from abstract to representational, but her works continued to reflect feminism.
She worked with collage uuntil the 1970s, and, in the early 1990s, began using pastels, which she continued using until her death.
She studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London and her early career was given a boost when she became an exhibiting member of the London Group, along with fellow artists David Hockney and Frank Auerbach, in 1962.
In 1990, she also became the first artist-in-residence at London’s National Gallery.
Rego's works can be found in a number of public institutions around the world, including British Museum, London, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and Gulbenkian Foundation in her birth city of Lisbon
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