Dame Maria Paula Figueiroa Rego (1935 – 2022) was a Portuguese-British visual artist, widely considered the pre-eminent woman artist of the late 20th and early 21st century, known particularly for her paintings and prints based on storybooks.
Rego studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London.
Her style has evolved from abstract towards representational, and she has favored pastels over oils for much of her career.
Having grown up in Portugal under António de Oliveira Salazar’s fascist dictatorship, Rego was fascinated by fairytales, and her political paintings span themes of power, possession, childhood and sexual transgression.
Her work often reflects stories colored by folk-themes from her native Portugal.
Rego challenges traditional female depictions by illustrating women in their natural state of strength and power, showing the reality of womanhood rather than trying to satisfy the gaze of the viewer.
Her paintings are strong and emotional, addressing human experiences that were powerful in their own way.
Rego successfully addressed human experiences through her art that were often unrepresented: abortion and depression.
More of Dame Maria Paula Figueiroa Rego‘s work can be found at https://www.theartstory.org/artist/rego-paula and https://www.wikiart.org/en/paula-rego/.
Humoring the Goddess 
There’s, that, masculinity in all of these, characters that’s, interesting to, note in this, collection.
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I can’t tell if the men are suppressing (in most cases I would say you), but I also don’t know much about Portuguese folk taaales.
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