Paula Rego - Rumpelstiltskin - 2016 SOLD OUT
“The millers daughter is distraught. She has a roomful of straw which the king wants her to spin into gold and she doesn’t know how to do it. Rumpelstiltskin promises to help but she’s frightened he’ll take the gold away with him.” Paula Rego
Paula Rego was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1935 and has traveled between London and Portugal throughout her life. She studied painting at the Slade School of Fine Art, London, and her career as an artist spans half a century. Her early paintings in Portugal were semi-abstract, sometimes applied to violent or political subjects that revealed a love of story-telling that had been awakened in her as a child by folk-tales related by a great-aunt.
As Rego’s oevre developed she turned to a more naturalistic approach with strongly modelled figures and a consistent light source. Working from literature, myths, fairy tales, cartoons and religious texts, Rego creates narrative works imbued with mystery. She is drawn to subjects that are well known, and takes her imagery from sources as varied as Peter Pan and Mary Magdalene. For Rumpelstiltskin, Rego asked Nicolas Serota, Director of Tate, to name his favourite fairy tale.
Paula Rego favours the almost immediate results etching and lithography can provide, allowing an exuberance and confidence of line. Her prints typically combine etched outlines with tonal gradations of Aquatint.
Medium: 4 plate etching printed with gold ink overlay on 300gsm Somerset Velvet
Size: 45.5 x 56 cm
Edition of 40
Signed and numbered
Price: £1,200
Member’s price: £1,080
The limited edition, Rumpelstiltskin, 2016 was kindly donated by the artist in support of Tate and is available via their online shop
