Paula Rego: Visions of English Literature developed by the Hayward Gallery Touring opened at the Newlands House Gallery, Petworth on Thursday May 21.

Dame Paula Rego, a Portuguese-British artist (1935-2022) is regarded as one of the most significant figurative artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The exhibition explores Rego’s lifelong engagement with storytelling and literature through the medium of printmaking.

Gilly Fox, Director of Haywards Gallery Touring, and Dr Loucia Manopoulou of Newlands House Gallery spoke to Noni Needs about this new exhibition.

Newlands House Gallery showcases three of the artist’s most ambitious and profound series of works in printmaking: Nursery Rhymes, Peter Pan and Jane Eyre, made across a decade of the artist’s life. 

Each series is accompanied by a variety of personal items from the artist, many of which have never been publicly displayed before. Unseen preparatory sketches, etching plates and Rego’s very own childhood copy of Peter Pan.

The exhibition offers an insight into the artist’s lifelong fascination with literature and into how the artist transformed this material into startlingly original and unexpected pictures.

The exhibition run until September 6, 2026.
For more information go to Newlands House Gallery
@hayward.gallery