Paula Rego: Celestina's House 18 APRIL — 14 JULY, 2002 Born in Portugal in 1935, Paula Rego studied at the Slade School in London and married the British painter Victor Willing. She has lived permanently in London since 1976 and is one of the most significant figurative artists working in Britain today. A consummate storyteller, Rego draws inspiration for her subversive and complex narratives of human behavior from books, films, folk legends, and fairytales, as well as memories of her own childhood and the history of art. Above all, Paula Rego addresses the experiences of women and their relationships with others, exploring themes of love and cruelty, desire and disgust, rebellion and domination. Paula Rego: Celestina's House focused on Rego's recent work at the time, and included her output of the previous four years almost in its entirety. This was the only showing of the exhibition in North America. It featured a new and previously unexhibited series of pastels and lithographs inspired by Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre and was completed just weeks before the opening. Organized by the Abbot Hall Art Gallery in Kendal, England, this exhibition was generously supported by Marlborough Fine Art (London) Ltd. with assistance from the British Council. The exhibition was curated at the Center by Gillian Forrester, Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings, and was accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue.