Paula Rego: Print B - Apres La Fete II 2003

This monograph deals exclusively with Paula Rego's graphic work. It features over 200 etchings, aquatints and lithographs from 1954 and her student days to the Jane Eyre series in 2002, and several prints that were never editioned but only proofed. For many painters, etching and lithography are merely an adjunct to their art, and their graphic images are simply copies of their paintings in another medium. Rego is unique among highly acclaimed artists in that her graphic works are mostly original in theme as well as execution, and she makes use of this different medium to project the disturbing and subversive power seen in her paintings. The text, written by Rego's friend and long-time supporter, T.G. Rosenthal, provides the background to each series and analyses each work. The author also quotes extensively from conversations with the artist, underlining Rego's subversive humour and her strongly feminist outlook. A fully illustrated catalogue raisonne, a description of Rego's techniques by Paul Coldwell, a comprehensive list of exhibitions and a bibliography here provide a survey of a major aspect of Rego's work.