A CONTROVERSIAL series of paintings depicting women having an abortion has become the most important and ambitious contemporary art purchased by Kendal's Abbot Hall art gallery.

The paintings known as a triptych as it comprises three separate panels - was painted in pastels in 1998 by Paula Rego, who is regarded as one of Britain's most important living artists.

The original price was more than £200,000, and the gallery managed to raise £20,000 towards this. Grant-giving bodies recognised the importance of this work and contributions were made by, among others, the National Art Collections Fund and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. £152,750 was raised, including a £65,000 grant from the Government-aided Resource/V & A Purchase Grant Fund, which was the largest sum given to a British gallery this year.

The artist, Paula Rego, and her dealer, Marlborough Fine Art, agreed to reduce the price to match the sum raised in order that the work could be secured for Abbot Hall.

Rego's work is extremely sought after and the Tate has recently bought one of her paintings, which was also shown in Abbot Hall's exhibition held in 2001. The artist was especially keen that Abbot Hall acquired her triptych, given the success of her show at the gallery, and she regards it as one of her most significant works to date.

Abbot Hall Director Edward King said: "We are delighted that the funding bodies were so supportive - enabling us to secure the funds to buy such an impressive and powerful artwork. It will be a wonderful addition to our growing collection of modern art."

Rego created these works in response to a referendum in Portugal to legalise abortion. When living in Portugal she had witnessed the terrible suffering of girls undergoing back street terminations, and she was angered by the reluctance and apathy of the Portuguese public to face the issue. The large scale pastel, Triptych', and a powerful series of eight etchings, Untitled', were first exhibited in Portugal with the intention of re-opening the debate.

She said: "I always wanted it to come to Abbot Hall and I am very pleased that it will be on display in this most interesting exhibition"

Rego's art is not usually political in its objectives, but the abortion series is typical of her fascination with the darker aspects of human experience and behaviour.

Each panel of the triptych focuses on one woman as she endures the agony of her situation alone, but the images are not intended to shock, and there is no blood or mess in the pictures. Instead Rego uses pose, and props such as the buckets, to suggest what is happening to the girls, revealing their physical and emotional distress through bodily gestures and facial expressions.

The triptych was first shown at Abbot Hall in 2001 as part of a retrospective of Paula Rego's work, which then went on to the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, USA. The artist was so delighted with the response to her exhibition at Abbot Hall that she gave the gallery a set of the etchings for its permanent collection.

NEW SHOW:

The triptych can be seen at Abbot Hall from next Wednesday as part of the new exhibition, The Enduring Image, which focuses on the human figure as inspiration for some of the greatest painters of the 20th century.

Famous names include Walter Richard Sickert, Lucian Freud, Frank Auerbach, Henry Moore and Francis Bacon, among others. The exhibition is exclusive to Abbot Hall and has works on loan from both national and private collections.

February 7, 2003 09:30