Artist Paula Rego, known for her visceral and unsettling work, dies aged 87

Paula Rego, the internationally celebrated Portuguese-born British artist known for her visceral and unsettling work, has died age 87.

Rego, an only child, was born in Lisbon in 1935. Her father, José, worked as an electronics engineer, and her mother, Maria, studied art but never practised as an artist.

Her work is valued in the millions of pounds, a film has been made about her, and a gallery named Casa das Histórias: Paula Rego (House of Stories), in the coastal town of Cascais, outside Lisbon, is one of the few dedicated to a living artist. But it was not until 1987 that Rego had her first major exhibition in Britain.

In her Tate Britain retrospective, placing Rego among a handful of contemporary female artists who have achieved comparable status, other notable works included the Dog Women series, a collection of pastel works portraying women behaving as dogs.

Of her more political and eloquently shocking work, the harrowing abortion series depicts women doubled over after having had an illegal abortion. The works were created in response to an abortion referendum to liberalise Portuguese law in 1998, and was credited with helping sway public opinion.

Rego is survived by three children, whom she and her husband raised in Ericeira, Portugal, and, later, in London, and five granddaughters.