Fairy tales don’t always have a happy ending, and certainly not in the mordant works of Paula Rego, who often turned to well-known stories to comment on abuses of power by political figures and the oppression of women. This exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Basel is the first to be dedicated to the artist in Switzerland and features a wide selection of the narrative-style paintings and uncanny sculptures she created over her 60-year career (28 September–2 February 2025). This includes one of Rego’s most haunting works, War (2003), in which human-animal hybrid figures flee from an unseen threat, bloodied and terrified, in a scene mirroring a news photograph taking during the Iraq War.
Find out more from the Kunstmuseum Basel’s website.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary
War (2003), Paula Rego. Tate, London
The Family (2004), Paula Rego. Private collection
Untitled n.6 from the Abortion series (1998–99), Paula Rego. Private collection
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