- Artwork Details: Image, 22.5 x 21.5cm Paper, 52 x 38cm
- Edition: 21/50
- Material description: etching with aquatint
- Credit line: © the artist
- Theme: Figurative
- Medium: Print
- Accession number: ACC53/1990
Old King Cole (from the Nursery Rhymes series)
1989
Rego, Paula
Paula Rego first encountered English nursery rhymes aged ten
at her English school in Portugal. In 1989, with a young
grand-daughter she rediscovered them through a series of
etchings. Following the tradition of John Tenniel's famous
illustrations for 'Alice in Wonderland', she treats the fantastic
realistically, dresses animals in human costume and introduces
dream-like distortions of scale. She was particularly attracted to
the possibility of using humour to confront terror, as she says,
'I paint to give fear a face.'
Ann Jones