Paula Rego: Crivelli's Garden

Dame Paula Rego's Crivellis Garden is a monumental triptych that reimagines the site of Carlo Crivellis' altarpiece La Madonna della Rondine as a radical space populated by female figures from myth, folklore, and the Bible, alongside animals drawn from Aesop's fables and other classical texts. This book celebrates the far-reaching influence of Regos paintings with an original short story by Mexican novelist Chloe Aridjis, illustrated with previously unpublished preparatory drawings and newly photographed details of the painting, and features an art historical essay on the work.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 64 pages
Publication date: 25 July 2023
Publisher: National Gallery Company Ltd

Dame Paula Rego RA (1935–2022) was a British-Portuguese artist whose large-scale figurative paintings explored human relationships and the experience of women through compelling, often subversive compositions. Inspired by the predella panel of Carlo Crivellis altarpiece La Madonna della Rondine (after 1490), Rego produced Crivellis Garden in 1990–91 while she was artist in residence at the National Gallery. This monumental triptych reimagined the site of Crivellis panel as a radical space populated by female figures from myth, folklore, and the Bible, alongside animals drawn from Aesops fables and other classical texts. Literature was a major influence on Regos practice throughout her career: this publication in turn celebrates the far-reaching influence of Regos paintings with an original short story by Mexican novelist Chloe Aridjis, inspired by Regos triptych. Illustrated with previously unpublished preparatory drawings and newly photographed details of the painting, the book also features an art historical essay on the work.

Dame Paula Rego RA (1935–2022) was a British-Portuguese artist whose large-scale figurative paintings explored human relationships and the experience of women through compelling, often subversive compositions. Inspired by the predella panel of Carlo Crivellis altarpiece La Madonna della Rondine (after 1490), Rego produced Crivellis Garden in 1990–91 while she was artist in residence at the National Gallery. This monumental triptych reimagined the site of Crivellis panel as a radical space populated by female figures from myth, folklore, and the Bible, alongside animals drawn from Aesops fables and other classical texts. Literature was a major influence on Regos practice throughout her career: this publication in turn celebrates the far-reaching influence of Regos paintings with an original short story by Mexican novelist Chloe Aridjis, inspired by Regos triptych. Illustrated with previously unpublished preparatory drawings and newly photographed details of the painting, the book also features an art historical essay on the work.

Published by National Gallery Global/Distributed by Yale University Press

Exhibition Schedule:

The National Gallery, London;

(July 20–October 29, 2023)

Weight: 386g
Dimension: 229 x 270 x 8 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781857096965