Painter Paula Rego dies at the age of 87

  • Lusa
  • 8 June 2022

According to gallery owner Rui Brito, the artist "died peacefully at home with her children".

Painter Paula Rego, one of the most internationally acclaimed and awarded Portuguese artists, died this morning in London, aged 87, a source close to her family told Lusa on Wednesday.

According to gallery owner Rui Brito, the artist “died peacefully at home with her children”.

Paula Rego studied at the Slade School of Art in London in the 1960s, where she moved permanently from the 1970s, but with regular visits to Portugal, where the Casa das Histórias​​​​​, a museum housing part of her work was opened, in Cascais in 2009.

Born on 26 January 1935 in Lisbon, she was awarded, among others, the Turner Prize in 1989 and the Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso Grand Prize in 2013, as well as the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Sant’Iago da Espada in 2004. In 2010, she received the Order of the British Empire with the rank of Officer from Queen Elizabeth II for her contribution to the arts.

In 2019, he received the Medal of Cultural Merit from the government of Portugal.