London is bracing for a major artistic event as the National Portrait Gallery prepares to host “The Anatomy of Painting,” a comprehensive retrospective of Jenny Saville’s powerful and provocative work, per vogue.co.uk. Opening in June, the exhibition will dedicate the gallery’s entire ground floor to showcasing 50 of Saville’s monumental paintings, spanning her influential career from the 1990s to the present day. This long-awaited homecoming arrives as Saville’s ongoing exhibition, “Gaze,” at Vienna’s esteemed Albertina Museum, draws to a close on June 29.
Saville first shook the art world in the early 1990s, her large-scale, unflinching depictions of the human form challenging conventional beauty standards and sparking intense debate. Thirty years later, as evidenced by the scale of her upcoming London retrospective, her art continues to resonate and provoke. From her early inclusion in Vogue’s “Class of ’94” portfolio to Manic Street Preachers featuring her triptych “Strategy (South Face/Front Face/North Face)” on their album cover, Saville’s impact was immediate and significant. Even early skepticism from critics like David Sylvester was quickly overturned by the undeniable force of her artistic vision.
The National Portrait Gallery’s “The Anatomy of Painting” promises to be Saville’s most prominent museum show to date, offering a deep dive into the evolution of her unique painterly language. Simultaneously, visitors in Vienna have the opportunity to experience “Gaze” at the Albertina Museum until the end of June. This exhibition highlights Saville’s ongoing exploration of the human body, positioned between idealisation and deconstruction, drawing inspiration from art historical giants like Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Egon Schiele and Francis Bacon.
Saville, a key figure in the Young British Artists movement and the sole figurative painter in the groundbreaking “Sensation” exhibition of 1997, masterfully blends traditional artistic gestures with a contemporary sensibility. Her canvases often begin as abstract fields of colour and thick paint, gradually morphing into powerful figurative representations. By engaging with ancient and Christian iconography, Saville creates a hybrid visual canon, offering a compelling and visceral renewal of art history.
•Featured image: Jenny Saville | Gaze, 2021–2024 | Private collection © Jenny Saville / Bildrecht, Vienna 2025 Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd. Courtesy Gagosian
