Portuguese-British artist Paula Rego (1935-2022) was one of the greatest storytellers and printmakers of our time. This exhibition explores her powerful interpretations of some of English literature’s most familiar tales, revealing how she transformed well-known stories into startling, subversive and deeply imaginative images.
Paula Rego: Visions of English Literature brings together three of her most ambitious series in printmaking: Nursery Rhymes, Peter Pan and Jane Eyre. Created across a decade of her life, these works reflect Rego’s fascination with folklore, fairy tales and classic novels. Alongside the prints, a variety of personal items from the artist – including sketches, etching plates and her childhood copy of Peter Pan – offer a fascinating insight into her creative process.
From the sinister figures lurking in children’s rhymes, to dreamlike visions of Neverland, to the turbulent relationships of Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Rego’s works explore innocence and cruelty, fantasy and power, through a lens that is often unsettling and always compelling.
Presented by Hayward Gallery Touring, this exhibition offers audiences the chance to experience the work of an internationally celebrated artist whose bold, uncompromising vision continues to resonate today.
Image credit: Paula Rego, The Neverland, 1992, coloured etching and aquatint. Copyright Ostrich Arts Ltd | Paula Rego Estate. Courtesy Ostrich Arts Ltd and Cristea Roberts Gallery.
