O ESTÚDIO DE PAULA REGO

Art world rallies to save Rego’s studio

Knights Caro and Serota pledge support after artist says development will rob her of her daylight

LEADING members of the art world are fighting to save the back-street Camden Town studio of one of the nation’s top contemporary artists. Paula Rego, whose works have commanded fees of hundreds of thousands of pounds and whose fans are said to include Madonna, Jose Mourinho and Germaine Greer warned yesterday her work space is threatened by a developer’s plan to build flats on the roof of a garage next door to her Rochester Place studio.The artist, who has used the studio since 1993, said the scheme in the quiet, cobbled mews would cut out vital light from the work area she has used to create a series of contemporary masterpieces.

Tate Gallery director Sir Nicholas Serota, who regularly visits Ms Rego at her base, has called on Camden Council to dismiss the application. He told the New Journal: “The character of Camden Town depends on the presence of small creative businesses and of a very mixed community, including artists. It is therefore essential that good and affordable studios continue to be available to artists in the area. For this reason, I am sorry to learn that Paula Rego’s studio may be under threat from redevelopment.” And leading sculptor Sir Anthony Caro, who is also based in Camden Town, has pledged his support and is writing to the Town Hall to object to the plans.

Portuguese-born Ms Rego, who moved to London in the 1960s, has been championed by Britain’s leading art collectors including Charles Saatchi. Her work is in collections such as Tate Britain. She said: “I have seen the plans and they will affect my light, casting a shadow across my work area. It will change the way I work. I have been using a lot of pastels and light is all important for my art. It will affect what I can create.” The former light industrial warehouse was once used to make hospital stretchers and the artist took it on when the company moved in the early 1990s. With skylights in the ceilings, it made “the perfect studio” she said and she had been happy and productive in the mews.“I came round here one day and saw the stretcher people leaving,” she added. “I walked in and was lucky – the light came in through the glass roof and was perfect.”Plans on the Town Hall’s website show a design that will bring the line of the building up to the same height as the neighbouring building on the other side of the garage. Garage owner Nino De-Angelis said that when he bought the freehold of his building just three years ago, an architect had advised him to apply for planning permission because it would increase the value of the property. “In the future I may like to sell it and I would get more with planning permission. I have no intention of putting the flats in yet,” he said.