cascais in loco
CASA DAS HISTÓRIAS PAULA REGO Since it opened in September 2009, it has been visited by over 100,000 people. And deservedly so, because this museum which prefers to call itself the Casa das Histórias Paula Rego (Paula Rego Story House) is the vibrant point where the work of Portugal’s most internationally renowned contemporary painter meets the famous lines of the architect Eduardo Souto Moura. In Cascais, this monument continues to draw the crowds. Text by Catarina Portas aula Rego was born in Lisbon but has spent most
towers and the beautiful red concrete, already foretold
of her life in London, ever since entering the Slade
the spirit of a design that balances the brutal with the
School of Fine Art in 1952 at the age of 17. How-
beautiful. Later, the drawings, etchings and paintings, in
ever, the ideas in her painting remain firmly rooted in
pastels and oils, arrived, some of them the boldest and
the land of her birth, “I brought everything with me from
most well-known works by the painter, who in 1990
Portugal”, she once said. It therefore makes sense that
became the First National Gallery Associate Artist.
this first museum dedicated to her work should have
The first exhibition, dedicated to Paulo Rego’s 50-year-
been founded here, where the painter spent her childhood
long career, clearly details how her technique and ex-
and adolescence, like someone returning home.
perimentation have evolved and the eternal nature of
When I first visited, the building was not yet complete.
her subject matter. Her works have a great raw and
From a distance, the first view of the structure, with its
mysterious force, just as her domestic and child figures,
unusual shape owing much to the two pyramid-shaped
rendered with a certain maliciousness and even utter perversity, have great seductive power. Whenever she is asked to talk about her pictures, Paula Rego usually tells a story. It might be one she heard as a child, or one from Leite de Vasconcelos’s collections of old Portuguese folk tales that have had such an influence on her. “You don’t have to be unafraid,” she remarked, disarmingly as ever, in a recent interview. There are plenty of reasons to revisit the museum. Besides a cafeteria with a sunny terrace and a delightful shop with exclusive products and an excellent section of art books, the Casa das Histórias organises educational programmes for both children and adults. There are guided visits, booked in advance by telephone or at the museum reception. And various special events, such as “Tell me Stories”, which explores literature through the painter’s work. Every weekend there are also screenings of films, particularly documentaries, at 5pm. Talks, meetings and conferences are also other motives for returning. And on summer evenings, concerts and activities are planned for the outdoor terrace and gardens. Plenty of reasons and events, visions and sensory experiences, so that when you leave the Casa
Old Mother Hubbard II, 1994
8 · con vida cascais & estoril
de Paula Rego you’ll always have a story to tell.•