The Casa das Histórias Paula Rego (‘’House of Stories Paula Rego’’) is a museum in

Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Portugal, tourist de ...

Lisbon District Lisbon District ( pt, Distrito de Lisboa, ) is a district located along the western coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Lisbon, which is also the national capital. From its creation until 1926, it included the area of the cur ...

, on the

Portuguese Riviera The Portuguese Riviera (Portuguese: '' Riviera Portuguesa'') is a term used in the tourist industry for the affluent coastal region to the west of Lisbon, Portugal, centered on the coastal municipalities of Cascais (including Estoril), Oeiras ...

, designed by the architect

Eduardo Souto de Moura Eduardo Elísio Machado Souto de Moura (; born 25 July 1952), better known as Eduardo Souto de Moura, is a Portuguese architect who was the recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2011 and the Wolf Prize in Arts in 2013. Along with Ferna ...

to house some of the works of the artist

Paula Rego Paula or PAULA may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Paula, in video game ''EarthBound'' * Paula, in ''The Larry Sanders Show'' * Paula Campbell (''EastEnders''), in 2003 Film and television * ''Paula'' (1915 film), a si ...

(1935 – 2022).

Design

On the site of the disused tennis courts of the former Sporting Club of Cascais, the building designed by Souto De Moura, who was personally chosen by Paula Rego, uses the region's historical architecture, particularly the nearby Palace of Sintra, in a contemporary way. It was designed to be fully in keeping with her wishes, having indicated that it should be “fun, lively and also a bit mischievous”. Its two pyramid-shaped towers and the red-coloured concrete are very distinctive and the previously existing mature trees of the park have been incorporated as elements in the design. The building consists of four wings, of different heights and sizes, subdivided into connecting rooms that are laid out around a central room designed to house temporary exhibitions. It has 750m2 of exhibition space, together with a 200-seat auditorium, shop and café. The museum has been described as “that rare project which has brought together an enlightened client, a brilliant architect and powerful subject matter”.

The collection

The collection consists of paintings, drawings and etchings produced by the artist on a variety of media and using a wide range of techniques. It covers a period of roughly 50 years in her career. Exhibits are shown in the permanent exhibition on a rotational basis, following different themes. This makes it possible to follow the different techniques and artistic approaches that Paula Rego used, as well to understand her unique contribution. The museum's collection is based on a long-term loan of 22 paintings, 257 etchings and 273 drawings by the artist and also includes 15 paintings by her late husband

Victor Willing Victor Arthur James Willing (15 January 1928 – 1 June 1988) was a British painter, noted for his original nude studies. He was a friend and colleague of many notable artists, including Elisabeth Frink, Michael Andrews and Francis Bacon. He ...

, together with some of the models used by Rego, a large patchwork and some of her personal papers.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Cascais Art museums and galleries in Portugal