at the National Gallery, London 

20 July 2023 – 29 October 2023 

What do you need for a Garden if not Earth? And plants would not grow without Water… But for Paula Rego, the National Gallery’s first Associate Artist from 1989-91, the ‘garden’ was not necessarily a place for nurturing plants, but also ideas. The work she created as part of her residency drew on the inspiration she received from the National Gallery's collection - the art the nurtured her - and promoted the nurturing of others, and especially, of other women, in the arts. 

Her time as Associate Artist coincided with the building of the Sainsbury Wing, leading up to its opening in 1991, and she was commissioned to create a mural for the restaurant. Long ago it was realised that this was not the ideal environment for the paintings: photographs from the time suggest that some of the diners might even have been able to lean back and rest their heads on the work. Given that the restaurant itself closed with the pandemic, and that the Sainsbury Wing as a whole is currently being re-structured as part of the National Gallery’s bicentenary celebrations next year (its first iteration opened in 1824), the large-scale paintings no longer have a permanent home. However, this summer they will be freely accessible once more. Indeed, you could argue that they will be more freely accessible, as you won’t have to wander among the diners, dodging the waiters as you go, in order to see them.

 

Included in the display will be some of Rego's preparatory drawings and sketches, many of which used the staff of the National Gallery – and specifically, female members staff – as models. I arrived at the gallery three years later, and for me these faces will constitute a walk down memory lane.

Like the other artists I am thinking about this summer, Rego spent much of her time outside her native country. She was born and brought up in Portugal, but came to the UK in 1952, at the age of 17 to further her studies: not only were her parents keen anglophiles, but she stood a better chance of success away from the dictatorial regime of António de Oliveira Salazar. After studying at the Slade School of Art, her career flourished, and her life was lived out between London and Lisbon until her death last year at the age of 87.