Name: Paula Rego
Dates: until 24 October 2021
Venue: Tate Britain
Location: Millbank, London, SW1P 4RG
Artist’s profile
Artist: Paula Rego
Origins: Portuguese/British (b. 1935)
Art movement: Figurative Art
Period: 20th century (second half)
Famous paintings: The Dance, The Artist in Her Studio
Paula Rego was born in Portugal. During her teens she moved to the UK and studied at Slade School of Fine Arts at University College London. After her graduation, Paula lived between Portugal and London.
Although she is considered as a British artist, Paula’s paintings often exhibited satire of the Portuguese fascist regime. Her work also tries to capture personal emotional experiences of women as well as to address relationships between men and women.
This is the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of Paula’s work ever staged in Britain. The exhibition takes you on the journey throughout Paula’s life. This is the best format as you can see where she started and how she developed as an artist.
Under Milk Wood
Oil paint on canvas
Photo: tadart.co.uk
During her studies at Slade School of Fine Arts at UCL in London, she painted Under Milk Wood, for which she won the first prize in the Summer Composition competition.
The Firemen of Alijo
Acrylic paint, oil pastel, charcoal, graphite, resin, ink, paper and aluminium foil on canvas
Photo: tadart.co.uk
Her early work was very experimental and focused on stylised almost abstract art. The paintings were usually collages and she used combined techniques, mixing different art media together in one painting.
4 works on paper, ink
Photo: tadart.co.uk
After the first three rooms I was little bit sceptical about the exhibition. However, then suddenly the subject of her artworks turned to painting human figures using acrylic paint on large formats and the exhibition really kicked off.
Photo: tadart.co.uk
There are two stunning facts about these paintings. Firstly, the size of these paintings is incredible, which is not visible from the photos. They must have been at least 3 meters high. Additionally, although these are acrylic paintings they were painted on paper rather then canvas.
The Policeman’s Daughter
Acrylic paint on paper on canvas
Photo: tadart.co.uk
The paintings depicted simple scenes from women’s life. Composition was very plain with the background showing basic perspective and the colours were very simple.
The Dance
Acrylic paint on paper on canvas
Photo: tadart.co.uk
Drawings and sketches
Photo: tadart.co.uk
In our art schools, we always emphasise how important it is to do various sketches before starting any work on your main drawing or painting. Here is a nice example that professional artists like Paula often do sketches before painting their final piece.
The Family
Acrylic paint on paper on canvas
Photo: tadart.co.uk
4 works on paper, coloured etching and aquatint
Photo: tadart.co.uk
The Artist in Her Studio
Acrylic paint on canvas
Photo: tadart.co.uk
Paula’s acrylic paintings started to be more detailed and rich in colour. Great example is the painting called the Artist in Her Studio, which is one of her most known paintings.
However, it seems that she moved away from using acrylic paint and started doing large formats using pastels.
1 of 3 works on paper, pastel on aluminium
Photo: tadart.co.uk
Although pastels are perfect technique for large paintings I have never seen such a big collection of large artworks done using them.
Girdle
Pastel on paper on aluminium
Photo: tadart.co.uk
Room 7, where Girdle, Love and Bride were exhibited, was probably the highlight of this exhibition for me.
Love
Pastel on paper on aluminium
Photo: tadart.co.uk
Love (Detail)
Pastel on paper on aluminium
Photo: tadart.co.uk
The great thing about using pastels is that you can see all the strokes, which give the painting an artistic feel.
Bride
Pastel on paper on aluminium
Photo: tadart.co.uk
Bride (Detail)
Pastel on paper on aluminium
Photo: tadart.co.uk
Photo: tadart.co.uk
Photo: tadart.co.uk
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