According to Casa das Histórias, in a statement, "through the exhibition of more than a hundred works, the show unveils the creative process of Paula Rego over seven decades, to show how he was able to build a unique and personal figurative territory, where stories function, from their first creations, as true realistic structures".
"Stories change, styles change", curated by the curator and coordinator of programming and conservation at Casa das Histórias Paula Rego (CHPR), Catarina Alfaro, presents "a careful selection of works by Paula Rego": paintings and drawings in oil, acrylic paint, gouache, watercolor, pastel, crayons and colored pencils on the most varied supports, collages, tapestry, serigraphs, etching and aquatint, but also "about 18 studies in Indian ink on paper executed by Paula Rego for some of the paintings he would later create".
The CHPR recalls that "the 1960s and 1970s, within the framework of the work of Paula Rego, are characterized by the exploration of experimental practices, which will be at the origin of the construction of their particular symbolic universe". At the same time, "Paula Rego claims its autonomy from the artistic movements of its time, a specificity that its work would maintain until the end".
In the 1980s, "this sense of freedom in relation to the conventions imposed on the way of 'making art' would intensify, resulting in a reformulation of its creative process and in the establishment of a radically new visual language, to tell its stories through of painting".
From the 1990s onwards, the working method of Paula Rego "it would gradually become even more complex and daring, with the use of live models or three-dimensional dolls, rigorously dressed and positioned among objects and props to build the story and tactilely compose the scene to be transported to the screen".
In "Stories change, styles change", the public will be able to appreciate works such as "Noite" (1954), "Batalha de Alcácer-Quibir" (1966), "O cerco" (1976), "Os Amantes " (1982), "Madame Butterfly" (c. 1985), "Snow White on the Prince's Horse", (1995), "Prince Pig and his first bride" (2006), which "evidence the unsubmissive personality of Paula Rego and her determination for an artistic expression free of ties and conventions, which led her to a constant redefinition of her figurative language and to the creation of compositionally complex canvases, which encompass highly diversified narrative contexts and inspirations".
"Stories change, styles change", an initiative by the D.Luís I Foundation and the Cascais City Council, within the scope of the Museums Quarter programme, will be open from Thursday to March 31, 2024 .
Source: Press Release
