Paula Rego, "Mulher Cão" (Dog Woman), Pastel on canvas, 1994

"To be a dog woman is not necessarily to be downtrodden; that has very little to do with it. In these pictures every woman's a dog woman, not downtrodden, but powerful. To be bestial is good. It's physical. Eating, snarling, all activities to do with sensation are positive. To picture a woman as a dog is utterly believable."

Paula Rego was born in Lisbon in 1935. In 1954 she left Portugal to study at the Slade School of Art in London. Married to an Englishman she remained in England, where she lives since 1976.

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Portuguese Art