The making of Paula Rego’s ‘The Nursery Rhymes’

Abstract

In 1989 Rego embarked on her first major sustained printmaking project, The Nursery Rhymes for which, over a period of three to four months, she produced over 30 etchings and aquatints. [i] This series of prints have achieved both critical acclaim and widespread popularity, rare for contemporary prints (with the exception of perhaps David Hockney’s series Rake’s Progress (1961–3), or Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe (1967)).

This paper looks at the circumstances that led up to the series, how the prints were made and how they were viewed. It also reflects on the imagery both in terms of personal iconography and its references to a wide range of graphic work. It does so from my unique perspective as the printer and collaborator in the project. As Rego herself explained:

I had made some etchings in the 1950’s and 1960’s, and some lithographs in the early 1980’s but it was only in the late 1980’s that I took up etching seriously. Paul Coldwell, who ended up printing most of my etchings, had set up a little studio in his kitchen. He had married Charlotte Hodes, who had been my tutee at the Slade and who I was friendly with, and he said, ‘Why don’t you come and do some prints?’ So I did. (Alfaro et al. 2019)