Dame Paula’s art career spanned more than five decades, and she was best renowned for her enchanting paintings inspired by childhood memories and fairytales.
She questioned gender stereotypes and spoke out against power abuses as an artist. Her pieces have sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds and have been included in the collections of celebrities like Charles Saatchi and Madonna. Her semi-abstract art dealing with violent or political issues propelled her to notoriety in Portugal.
Her Dog Woman pastel drawings, which depict women in a succession of canine stances, are notable, as is her picture of Germaine Greer from 1995, which is on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London. She was the National Gallery’s first artist-in-residence, and her murals are on permanent display there.
The Renowned Portuguese-British artist died on Wednesday morning at her home in north London, surrounded by her family, according to the gallery, which has branches in London and Venice.