Paula Rego (n. 1935) Lot n° 71

Acrylic on paper Signed “Catóblepa”, 1981 Exhibitions: "Paula Rego", Cara das Histórias, Cascais, 2018/2019, Cat. pp. 13 e 51. Additional Information: In the 1981 and 1982 paintings, Paula Rego invokes beast creatures referring to The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges, published in 1957 under the original title Manual de Zoologia Fantastica. Her painting representing the Catoblepas (1981), which in Greek means “the one who looks down,” is mentioned by Borges in his book. Quoting Pliny (VIII, 32), Borges describes this creature: “an animal of moderate size, and in other respects sluggish in the movement of the rest of its limbs; its head is remarkably heavy, and it only carries it with the greatest difficulty, being always bent down towards the earth. Were it not for this circumstance, it would prove the destruction of the human race; for all who behold its eyes, fall dead upon the spot.” Borges also quotes the end of Flaubert's Temptation of Saint Anthony (1874): “The Catobble, a black buffalo with the head of a hog, hanging close to the ground, joined to its body by a thin neck, long and loose as an emptied intestine. It wallows in the mud, and its legs are smothered under the huge mane of stiff bristles that hide its face.” The 'simplicity' of Rego's paintings contrasts with her complex narratives. The artist's imagination, strongly linked to story tales and popular culture, transports us into a fascinating fantasy world where beasts merge with humans. Literature: Jorge Luis Borges e Margarita Guerrero, 1966 (second edition). El libro de los seres imaginarios. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, p.17. 54x74 cm