Ancestors
A show by Jenny Saville at Gagosian, on view from May 3rd – July 23rd, 2018. I’m such a sucker for large scale paintings so I fell in love at first site at this exhibition.
“In her drawings and paintings, Saville transcends the boundaries of both classical figuration and modern abstraction in her depiction of the human form.” - Gagosian Press Release
Saville draws inspiration from many different sources including classical sculpture, Henri Matisse, Willem de Kooning, and Pablo Picasso.
“There is a thing about beauty. Beauty is always associated with the male fantasy of what the female body is. I don’t think there is anything wrong with beauty. It’s just what women think is beautiful can be different. And there can be a beauty in individualism. If there is a wart or a scar, this can be beautiful, in a sense, when you paint it.” - Jenny Saville
Jenny Saville is a British painter who still works and lives in England. She’s known for ‘painting the flesh’ - aka drawings and paintings of nudes.
Charles Satchii is responsible for kick-starting her career when he purchased her entire senior show. Saville is now represented by Gagosian Gallery.
“I like the down and dirty side of things,” she says. “I don’t like things to be too polished. We’ve got fashion magazines for that.” - Jenny Saville for Telegraph
Below is a great video where Jenny herself walks us through her life, her methods and beliefs.
Most Expensive Work Sold for a Living Female Artist
Saville also just set an exciting record by selling the most expensive artwork by a living female artist on October 5, 2018.
Propped, Jenny Saville, 1992 - sold for 12,498,034 USD, estimated (3,000,000 - 4,000,000 GBP)
