The collection consists of an extraordinary group of paintings, drawings and etchings produced by the artist on a variety of media and using a wide range of techniques. The collection covers a period of roughly 50 years in her prolific artistic career, and will be shown in the permanent exhibition on a rotational basis. Such a wide-ranging collection makes it possible to follow the changes in form, theme and technique - the different media and artistic languages that Paula Rego has experimented with - as well to understand her unique and highly personal artistic universe.

The collection also includes paintings by her late husband, the artist Victor Willing, some of the models used by Paula Rego, a large patchwork and some of her personal papers.


How the collection was put together

The collection has been put together thanks to the generous donation made by Paula Rego of all of her etchings, amounting to 257 in total, along with a set of 273 drawings, most of which have never been seen before.
Paula Rego has also loaned 22 of her paintings to the Casa das Histórias, most of which are works from the 1980s (e.g. the Operas series; Vivian Girls; In and Out of the Sea) but which also include some of her emblematic pieces from the 1960s (e.g. Always at Your Excellency's Service; When We Had a House in the Country; Centaur) and the 1990s (e.g. Angel; Love; The Company of Women).

In addition to the aforementioned loan, there is also a collection of 29 drawings and preparatory sketches of figures and compositions for paintings produced in the 1980s and 1990s.

Victor Willing (1928-1988) is represented by 15 oil paintings from the late 1950s (Precarious Drag), the 1970s (Place) and the last pieces of his career, dating from the second half of ths 1980s (Failure and Ascot).