admin April 9th, 2008

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You might have never heard about her, but Paula Rego is one of the most cherished (albeit controverse) fine artists in Portugal (my home country, in case you didn’t know). You might want to learn more about her by checking the wiki article linked back there, but today I’m focusing on a specific artistic controversy which eloped around this brilliant artist, which I’m sure you’ll find rather amusing.

Recently, Paula Rego was comissioned by a renowned brand of wines to come up with a new label. Since she’s such a popular artist, I suppose they figured it would add an extra touch of class to their products, to feature labels authored by such an ominous figure. The thing is, Paula Rego’s vision of the “wine” concept turned out a bit too much disturbing for its own sake, and not only did the company canceled its order, they actually threatened to charge the artist with a lawsuit.

Why? As you can see from contemplating the three illustrations within this post, Paula Rego’s vision of the dyonisic beverage apparently focused more on the hedonist side and less on the beverage itself. Personally, I think these are some amazing and thought-provoking pictures (although I can understand why they wouldn’t make some effective wine labels), and I was actually happy to know the artist decided to take the opportunity to create an exhibition focused around the “wine” subject. She authored 6 additional illustrations and they ended up getting used for a short story authored by João de Melo - more information about the international edition here. Also check here if you want to see more illustrations by this outstanding contemporary European artist.

I couldn’t find all the pictures in the “Wine” series, so I’ll leave you with some of my favorite illustrations by Paula Rego. As you’ll probably notice, the people from the wine company mustn’t really have thought things through, when they commissioned this specific artists. Click to enlarge the pictures, and enjoy!

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