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One out of two (symposium)
Charcoal and pastel on canvas, 2016
Private Collection
Odalisque
Oil and charcoal on canvas, 2012-2014
Craig Robins Collection, Miami
Aleppo
Pastel and charcoal on canvas, 2017-2018
Private Collection
Arc
Charcoal and pastel on gesso panel, 2020-2021
Private Collection
Pietà I
Charcoal and pastel on canvas,
2019-2021
The George Economou Collection
In 2021 Saville was offered the opportunity to respond to Michelangelo's marble sculpture of The Deposition (about 1547-55) at the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence.
The sculpture depicts the body of the dead Christ supported by three figures after the crucifixion. Saville has long admired Michelangelo and by studying the sculpture closely on site and speaking with the restorers cleaning the marble, Saville saw new details that inspired her to make Pietà I.
This large-scale drawing on canvas depicts a mass of intertwined human forms in a multi-layered embrace. By using charcoal and pastel, Saville established a formal relationship with the roughness of the stone sculpted by Michelangelo over four centuries before. Pietà / was shown alongside Michelangelo's sculpture in Florence in 2021.
Eve
Oil, acrylic and pastel on linen, 2022-23
Arora Collection, UK
Stanza
Oil and oil stick on linen, 2020-2022
Private Collection
In Stanza, Saville articulates a process she has developed in which she allows an image to reveal itself by knitting together stencilled layers of paint. By placing specific importance on the space between the layers, she focuses on the creative function of instinct and possibility. Saville says: 'I wanted to see if I could make an almost abstract portrait, pivoting between a portrait of painting and a painting of a head?
Cascade
Oil on linen, 2020
Private Collection
Virtual
Oil on canvas, 2020
AMA COLLECTION
Chasah
Oil on linen, 2020
Private Collection courtesy Gagosian
In Chasah, a biblical term meaning to seek refuge or protection, we see Saville's continuing exploration of bold colours and lines that combine to create convincing sculptural form and the illumination of flesh.
Saville had been looking at the late work of Claude Monet (1840-1926), and had been drawn to his strong colour palette and the way the paint 'sits on the surface.
Starting from an abstract base, Saville built the form of the head out from this, leaving liminal areas as a fresh way to look at the notion of positive and negative space in a portrait. There is a tiny reflection of the painter in the model's eye and a sensuality to the way she has painted the mouth and teeth.
Hear artist Jenny Saville reflect on her work, on Bloomberg Connects.
Latent
Acrylic and pastel on canvas, 2020-2022
The George Economou Collection
Using a range of pastels and thin, transparent paint, Saville's process in this work involves weaving together colours to construct the structure of the model's face. There is a delicate soft rendering of the neck creating luminosity, combined with wider strokes of pastel giving a sense of movement. There are heads within heads in this painting as a blue section of a previous portrait is revealed from beneath.
'Latent space' is a concept in artificial intelligence that refers to the analysis of hidden structural similarities between visual data.
Saville draws on this idea as she builds form out of abstract passages, making visible a transition from nature to culture.
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