“The CHPR Collection in Dialogue with the Artist's Collection,” at the Paula Rego House of Stories
The Paula Rego House of Stories is opening two exhibitions that explore different dimensions of the artist's work: A Coleção da CHPR em diálogo com a Coleção da artista (The CHPR Collection in dialogue with the artist's collection) (rooms 1 to 7), and Costumes and pictures: o vestuário na obra de Paula Rego (Costumes and pictures: clothing in the work of Paula Rego) (room 0). The exhibitions present new perspectives on Paula Rego's creative process and thematic universe, including previously unseen works and others that are less known to the public.
Curated by Catarina Alfaro, the exhibitions are an initiative of the D. Luís I Foundation and Cascais Municipal Council, reaffirming the institutions' commitment to studying and promoting the Portuguese artist's legacy.
The CHPR Collection in dialogue with the artist's collection offers a fresh take on Paula Rego's work, bringing together two complementary collections: the Casa das Histórias Paula Rego collection and the artist's own collection. This dialogue allows us to observe themes, characters, and techniques that have intersected over decades, revealing the coherence and vitality of a body of work deeply rooted in experience and imagination. The exhibition traces Paula Rego's journey from her early experiences in London at the Slade School of Fine Arts to the consolidation of her personal language, marked by the intersection of imagination, literature, and social reality.
Highlights include previously unseen works, such as an undated self-portrait and a portrait of her granddaughter Darcey, as well as sketchbooks from the 1970s, presented for the first time, which reveal the artist's experimental process.
The exhibition includes iconic works such as Day and Night (1953), Encounter with Adélia (2013), The Last Feeding (2012), The Fisherman (2005), The Mother Wearing the Wolf's Skin (2003) – from the Little Red Riding Hood series –, recently acquired by the D. Luís I Foundation and on deposit at the museum. The exhibition includes the model made by the artist herself, Tree of the Muses (2007). Also noteworthy are three works from a series dedicated to Depression (2007), in which the artist captures the feeling of incomprehension, constructing fierce images of loneliness and human suffering.
The exhibition does not follow a chronological order, but is organized around recurring themes and emotions. Paula Rego's life and work appear here as inseparable realities, in a continuous dialogue between the intimate and the universal, the political and the poetic.
Learn more about Costumes and pictures: clothing in the work of Paula Rego
More information: +351 214 815 660 | geral@fdl.pt
Organization: Cascais City Council | D. Luís I Foundation | Museum District
