Saville, Jenny (1970-…), is a British painter known for her large portraits and figure studies of fleshy nude females. Saville’s paintings of often overweight women are partly a feminist commentary on society’s restrictive attitude toward female beauty.
Saville rose to fame in the 1990’s as one of a group of young artists in the United Kingdom who became known as Young British Artists (YBA’s). Most artists in the group produced experimental works in diverse media. However, Saville relied on traditional oil paint in creating her works.
Saville was born in 1970 in Cambridge, England. She studied at the Glasgow School of Art from 1988 to 1992. She then attended the Slade School of Art in London in 1992 and 1993. Her career received a boost when her works attracted the attention of the English art collector and dealer Charles Saatchi. He purchased her entire graduating show at Slade and commissioned additional paintings from her over the following few years.
Saville lived in the United States in 1994. In New York City, she observed the work of a plastic surgeon, gaining the understanding of the human body and how it works. This knowledge inspired her figurative paintings, in which she examined the female body from a variety of viewpoints and angles.
See also Young British Artists .
