Coisas de mulher

Paula Rego
Dog Woman
1994, Pastel on canvas
120 x 160 cm

Inspired by a story a friend had written for her, Paula Rego draws her Dog Woman in pastels, referencing the raw physicality of Degas' drawings. "To be a dog woman is not necessarily to be downtrodden; that has very little to do with it," She explained, "In these pictures every woman's a dog woman, not downtrodden, but powerful. To be bestial is good. It's physical. Eating, snarling, all activities to do with sensation are positive. To picture a woman as a dog is utterly believable."