A “masterpiece” by Paula Rego is set to go under the hammer at Sotheby’s next week and could set a new record for the artist. Rego’s challenging work about abortion, gender roles and domestic violence has found new audiences in an era when identity is king. Since her death in 2022 the record price for one of her works at auction has risen significantly, jumping from £1.
1m in 2015 to a new record of just over £3m at Christie’s in October last year . Meadow, which is on the market for the first time since it was bought in 1997 after her Marlborough gallery show in New York, could better that on Tuesday with a top-end initial estimate of about £3m. Emma Baker, Sotheby’s head of contemporary art evening sale, called the work a “masterpiece” and typical of Rego’s love of playing with gender roles, while also referencing art history, specifically Cézanne’s Scipio .
She thinks the interest in Rego is aligned with a more general societal shift, which has seen issues of female empowerment, the #MeToo movement and the overturning of Roe v Wade in the US force her themes into the mainstream. “Some of her pictures are tough, especially those that confront images of abortion,” said Baker. “But attitudes to the hard-hitting themes and topics are changing.
Over the last decade there’s been a real shift and these issues are being brought to light; these are at the forefront of our contemporary dialogue.” The auction is the latest milestone in a career resur.
