In the aristocratic and dignified streets of St. James’s, at 43 Pall Mall, this winter, the doors to Paula Rego’s (1935–2022) intimate world are opening this wide for the last time. Beneath London’s gray sky, the white walls of Cristea Roberts Gallery bear the traces of those intense, dark, and profoundly honest three years—2005 to 2007—when Rego secluded herself in her studio.
“Drawing from Life” is not merely an exhibition; it is a space of catharsis where an artist reckons with her own past, fears, and dusty childhood memories from Portugal. One of the most captivating stops in the show is the partial recreation of Rego’s working space. Standing beside her easel are those strange, grotesque, and melancholic dolls—‘bonecos,’ as she called them—created by her own hands. This time, they appear not as silent models but as embodied witnesses to Rego’s imagination. This being the last time the artist’s studio is assembled and exhibited in this way also lends the show historical significance.
The greatest turning point in Rego’s work from this period lies hidden in her connection to the dark world of writer and director Martin McDonagh. McDonagh’s stories, blending violence, humor, and compassion, became a channel through which Rego could pour her personal history. Just as she had years earlier reinterpreted fairy tales like Peter Pan or Humpty Dumpty through her own dark filter, this time she intricately wove McDonagh’s narratives with her childhood traumas and adult anguish.
This selection of over 40 works does not greet the viewer with an easy viewing experience. As we wander among heavy themes like abuse, abortion, and violence, we become part of Rego’s painful yet pure creative process—where, as Nick Willing put it, she “discovered things she could never have imagined” through drawing. Here, every line, every print echoes like a scream that reaches the most hidden corners of the human soul without needing explanation.
Dates: Continues until January 17, 2026.
Special Experience: If you have time, the tour on Friday, January 16 at 1:00 PM could offer a deeper perspective into Rego’s world.
