The monumentality and psychological drama of Paula Rego's paintings have established her as one of the most important figurative painters of our generation. She was born in Portugal in 1935 and trained as an artist there, but has worked in England since 1976. In 1988 a retrospective of her work at the Serpentine gallery, London, was one of the best-attended and most widely reviewed exhibitions ever held there. Her powerful imagery explores the pressures, obsessions, fears and terrors of childhood, and the way these have come to bear on her adult view of the world. This book brings together the paintings, prints and drawings from all periods of Rego's career. The text is illustrated with over one hundred colour plates and many documentary photographs.