Jenny Saville

b. 1970, British

By Sylvia Walker

May 23, 2022

Biography

Jenny Saville, born in 1970 in Cambridge, residing and working in Oxford, is a British contemporary painter who is best known for her figurative oil paintings. Most often, she pictures distorted, grotesque, and above all ‘meaty’ female subjects, depicting the experience of the body.

Saville is one of the original members of the YBA scene. She rose to fame as one of the Young British Artists alongside the likes of Damien Hirst or Tracey Emin. However, whereas the aforementioned illustrious artist are known for a multidisciplinary and neo-conceptual practice, Jenny Saville opts to paint representational, using oil paint on canvas.

Her internationally lauded oeuvre is marked by a Rubensesque style of painting, depicting voluptuous bodies dominated by flesh. She blends the abstraction of Cubism with the sensuality of Baroque, incorporating elements of Abstract Expressionism with a photographic figuration. The British artist tackle issues concerning gender binary, obesity, pathological perceptions of the body, how experience our body, the imposed ideal of beauty and more.

Career Facts

Jenny Saville is a highly established artist. She is represented by the best art galleries in the world, such as Gagosian Gallery. Her distinguished career includes solo exhibitions at renowned institutions, such as the Museo di Palazzo Vecchio, Venice; the Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh; the Norton Museum of Art, Florida; the Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome and more.

As a result, Saville is collected by renowned public institutions, such as The Broad, Los Angeles; the George Economou Collections, Athens; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; the Norton Museum of Art, Florida; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; or the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle.

Jenny Saville Books

For further reading on Jenny Saville, we highly recommend the following monographic publications:

Artworks by Jenny Saville

Jenny Saville, Fulcrum, 1998-1999. Oil on canvas – 261.6 x 487.7 cm. Courtesy Gagosian and the artist.

Jenny Saville, Reverse, 2002-2003. Oil on canvas – 213 x 244 cm. Courtesy Gagosian and the artist.

Jenny Saville, Propped, 1992. Oil on canvas – 213 x 183 cm. Courtesy Gagosian and the artist.

Jenny Saville, Figure 11.26, 1996-1997. Oil on canvas – 152.5 x 152.5 cm. Courtesy Gagosian and the artist.

Jenny Saville, Red Star Collage, 2007-2009. Collage on board – 252 x 187 cm. Courtesy Gagosian and the artist.

Jenny Saville, Rosetta II, 2005-2006. Oil on canvas – 252 x 187.5 cm. Courtesy Gagosian and the artist.

Jenny Saville, Torso II, 2004-2005. Oil on canvas – 360 x 294 cm. Courtesy Gagosian and the artist.

Jenny Saville, Reflective Flesh, 2002-2003. Oil on canvas – 305 x 244 cm. Courtesy Gagosian and the artist.

Jenny Saville, Trace, 1993. Oil on canvas – 213 x 183 cm. Courtesy Gagosian and the artist.

Jenny Saville, Oxyrhynchus, 2012-214. Oil on canvas – 170 x 250 cm. Courtesy Gagosian and the artist.

Jenny Saville, Dusk, 2014. Charcoal and pastel on canvas – 190 x 155 cm. Courtesy Gagosian and the artist.

Jenny Saville, The Mothers, 2011. Oil on canvas – 270 x 220 cm. Courtesy Gagosian and the artist.

Jenny Saville, Study for Isis and Horus, 2011. Oil on canvas – 198 x 148 cm. Courtesy Gagosian and the artist.

Jenny Saville, Red Fates, 2018. Oil on canvas – 240 x 260 cm. Courtesy Gagosian and the artist.

Jenny Saville, Reproduction Drawing IV (after Leonardo Da Vinci), 2010. Charcoal on paper – 194 x 145 cm. Courtesy Gagosian and the artist.

Last Updated on May 3, 2023

Sylvia Walker

Sylvia Walker (b. 1986, US) is an art historian, essayist, art critic, and curator. After contributing to numerous publications, and curating exhibitions in the United States of America and beyond, she currently works as the assistant director of Contemporary Art Issue (CAI).

Author archive →