Young predators

26 January 1935

Birth in Lisbon

Born in Lisbon; her father is an electrical engineer working for the Marconi Company and is ardently anti-fascist.

early 1962

Begins exhibiting with the London Group

Her artistic career effectively begins in early 1962, when she starts exhibiting with the London Group, a long-established artists’ organization whose members included David Hockney and Frank Auerbach.

1965

First solo show in Lisbon

That same year she has her first solo show, at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes (SNBA) in Lisbon.

1966

Her father’s death; the family firm passes to her husband

Her father dies and the family electrical business is taken over by Victor Willing, although he has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, has no experience of electrical engineering or management, and speaks only limited Portuguese. Her father, worried by his son-in-law’s heavy drinking, had advised the couple to sell the business after his death and return to England.

1969

Represents Portugal at the São Paulo Biennial

She is the Portuguese representative at the São Paulo Art Biennial.

1974

The Carnation Revolution and the failure of the family firm

After the Carnation Revolution, which overthrows the right-wing Estado Novo dictatorship, the family company’s production works are taken over by revolutionary forces, although Rego’s family had been supporters of the Left. The company fails.