The naked truth
Jenny Saville reveals why she feels compelled to expose the realities of the human body through her work
Frequently described as a ‘new Old Master’ for her painterly approach and technical proficiency, Jenny Saville creates fleshy, larger-than-life nudes that have garnered her critical acclaim over the past 25 years. One of Britain’s leading contemporary artists, she is celebrated in a new publication that chronicles the often glossed-over realities of people’s bodies – from self-portraits of Saville with her infant children to graphic renderings of dental extractions and cosmetic-surgery procedures.
‘Historically, the greatest art has had the human form in it, so I was naturally drawn to painting the figure,’ she says. ‘Anyone who has sat still long enough in my house when I was a kid was made into a drawing and it developed from there. It’s become my life’s work.’
Part of her creative process sees Saville take photographs of her canvases at different stages as she works on them, enabling her to refer back if she makes a mistake. A selection of these, many dating back years, are being reproduced in her book for the first time, and offer a fascinating glimpse into the draughtsmanship that underpins her oil paintings, as well as providing an insight into the inner workings of her Oxford studio.
‘There are fewer painters now than there were generations ago, so I feel that it’s important to show these technical processes,’ she says. ‘I grew up looking at Francis Bacon and Giacometti’s studios, and knew that those were the sorts of places where I wanted to live my life. I also felt a kind of kinship with them – my bedroom looked rather like that, when I was 15.’ Surely her younger self would be proud to see all she has accomplished since then, her own atelier brimming with extraordinary renderings of humanity’s myriad manifestations.
‘Jenny Saville’ with text by Richard Calvocoressi and Mark Stevens (about £120, Rizzoli) is out now.