Unlocated Works by Paula Rego
Paula Rego: 50s-60s
Project for publication of a Catalogue Raisonné
Scientific coordination: Catarina Alfaro and
Leonor de Oliveira
The following images are reproductions of paintings by Paula Rego
produced in the nineteen sixties and the whereabouts of which are
unknown.
We would greatly appreciate receiving any information about the
current location of these paintings, as well as of any other works
from this period. This may be sent to the following e-mail address:
catarina.alfaro@casadashistorias.com
The Casa das Histórias Paula Rego, in continuing its mission to
study and divulge Paula Rego's work, is carrying out a study of all
the works she produced during the nineteen fifties and sixties. The
aim of this study is that of publishing a catalogue raisonné in
relation to the early period of her artistic career.
The project follows on from the exhibition 1961: Order and
Chaos (May-November 2014), which finally brought a set of
works produced throughout the fifties and sixties back into
recognition (or out of oblivion).
Yet this phase of Paula Rego's career still remains to be
recuperated and deeply studied. The works from this period are
scattered over several private collections, and run the risk of
undergoing alterations in their state of conservation due to the
diversity of the techniques and materials used. It is therefore
urgent and necessary to make an inventory of them.
After studying Painting at the Slade School of Fine Art
(1952-1956), Paula Rego begins her artistic career with her main
reference being the work of the French artist Jean Dubuffet
(1901-1985) and the Outsider Art (Art Brut) of which he was the
theorist. She then follows an automatic process of creation,
without using any studies or previous reflections, recovering the
enthusiasm for drawing that she had felt as a child, along with the
creative freedom that academic training had restricted.
In her drawings and paintings personal stories are crossed with
episodes from current events and with references to the Portuguese
authoritarian regime, which adds a political element to her
works.
Paula Rego's work brought a unique and unexpected effect to the
Portuguese art field of the nineteen sixties. The freedom of her
drawing, the subjective expression of the subjects and the
combination of techniques, including collage, were a renewing
formal proposal at the time, besides revealing a personal approach
to the tendencies that marked out international art of the
period.