Straw Burning, from Pendle Witches, Paula Rego, 1996
Paula RegoPortuguese, 1935–2022

Straw Burning, from Pendle Witches

1996 · Print · 44.93 × 29.37 cm

Can I see it?

Not on view at present

Where is “Straw Burning, from Pendle Witches” now? Collection: Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Minneapolis, United States

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked
In this state since
Source
The museum

About the work

Paula Rego, born in Portugal, has been described as “heiress to Goya’s Iberian darkness.” She is a master of aquatint, exploiting the medium to its most eerie and provocative ends. In this visionary image, Straw Burning, a dazed bride wanders through a hellish sea of frightening forms—menacing goat, screaming sunflower, aquiline demon, overgrown grasshoppers, sinister mice. The gradations of aquatint tone in the background set this netherworld aflame. The print comes from Rego’s Pendle Witches series, accompanied by poems by the British poet Blake Morrison.

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Details

Accession number
2007.73

In the catalog

Sources

In the life of Paula Rego

The whole life
  1. 1991–1996

    The nursery-rhyme series on tour

    The series of paintings and prints on the theme of nursery rhymes that emerged from her work at the National Gallery is taken around Britain and elsewhere by the Arts Council of Great Britain and the British Council from 1991 to 1996.

  2. 1997

    Retrospective at Tate Liverpool

    A retrospective of her work is held at Tate Liverpool.

  3. 1998

    Exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery

    An exhibition of her work at Dulwich Picture Gallery.

All works

On view at Minneapolis Institute of Art

Museum page