Jenny Saville

Recognized as an exceptional talent in the early 1990s, when she was just in her early 20s, British painter Jenny Saville (born 1970) has continued to renew and subvert the legacy of such masters as Rembrandt, de Kooning and Freud, with sometimes controversial interpretations of the human figure--primarily the female body--that expertly mingle the textures of paint and flesh. This volume, accompanying the first U.S. survey of the artist, includes already classic early paintings such as "Propped" (1992) alongside studies and more recent paintings and drawings on the theme of the mother and child. Saville's brushwork reveals an increased dynamism and looser gesture. Extended critical commentary by Cheryl Brutvan and Nicholas Cullinan discuss Saville's feminism and treatments of flesh throughout art history. Despite Saville's fame, there have been few opportunities to view her mature work, a lacuna this volume happily corrects.