- Artwork Details: Image, 32.5 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: ACC58/1990
How many miles to Babylon? (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