Renowned Portuguese-British Artist, Dame Paula Rego Has Died at 87

Dame Paula Rego, the renowned Portuguese-British artist, has died aged 87, the Victoria Miro art gallery has said.

A tweet announcing the news stated: “It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of the Portuguese-born, British artist Dame Paula Rego at the age of 87.

“She died peacefully this morning, after a short illness, at home in North London, surrounded by her family.

Over a career spanning more than five decades, Dame Paula created magical pictures based on her childhood memories and fairytales, with her works selling for hundreds of thousands of pounds.

They have featured in collections owned by famous names like Charles Saatchi and Madonna.

Born in 1935 in Lisbon into a prosperous family, Dame Paula was sent to an English finishing school as a teenager in Kent.

Her talent for art was spotted and she studied at London’s prestigious Slade School of Fine Art.

The artist first came to prominence in Portugal with semi-abstract work that dealt with violent or political subjects.

She gained further recognition after exhibiting with the London Group in the 1960s alongside artists such as David Hockney.

Her later pieces drew on the folk stories from her homeland and popular children’s tales like Little Red Riding Hood, but she also used her own experiences, real and imagined, of her upbringing filled with neat little girls, maids and grandmothers but with a sexual or violent subtext.

She was seen as one of the most notable figurative artists of her generation, with her work ranging from painting, pastel, and prints to sculptural installations.