Art Basel

For Art Basel, Marlborough is pleased to announce a solo presentation of paintings and sculpture by longtime gallery artist Paula Rego. Born in Portugal in 1935, Rego is a central figure to the School of London painters whose contribution to British art is widely celebrated. Her deeply psychological allegories have maintained a powerful presence in narrative painting across Europe for more than six decades.

The stand will include some of Rego’s most celebrated paintings recently exhibited in the artist’s solo exhibition at Museé de l’Orangerie in Paris organized by Cécile Debray. With her unique approach of using pastel and acrylic to create monumental paintings, Rego blends literary and folkloric sources with art history and strong autobiographical elements. Her allegiance to the art historical canon is combined with a radical dedication to her unique voice. Included in the presentation are the paintings The Fitting, 1989 and The Family, 1988, widely regarded as two of her most ambitious undertakings. These works display her remarkable ability to merge reality with fiction using loaded imagery and symbolism to create an ambiguous narrative with psychological and sexual subtexts. A small group of Rego’s most important hand-colored etchings will also be included, showing her continued commitment to printmaking over the past 30 years.

The timing of this presentation will serve as a preview and to her upcoming solo exhibition at the Tate Modern in 2021 and coincide with her one-person show at the MK Gallery in Milton Keynes.

Also on view will be works by Ahmed Alsoudani, Frank Auerbach, Werner Büttner, Susan Te Kahurangi King, Tony Matelli, H.C. Westermann and Zao Wou-Ki.