Jenny Saville

Acquired directly from the artist by the previous owner in 1992

Colours: The colours are fairly accurate in the catalogue illustration, although the overall tonality is warmer and richer in the original. The pink-white through the centre of the figure's torso tends more towards pale peach, the grey colour present in the figure's right leg tends more towards dusty pink, the colour of the figure's hands tends more towards terracotta and the grey of the background has a much greener hue in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There is a slight unevenness to the left hand overturn edge and a few tiny bumps scattered in some places throughout the canvas, probably due to surface irregularities present on the board to which it is mounted. There is an extremely light rub mark to the bottom right outer corner edge, visible in the catalogue illustration. There is a minute spot of paint loss to the figure's left nipple. No restoration is apparent under ultraviolet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

" [For me] It's more than representation, it's about the meaning of existence and pushing the medium of paint."  (Jenny Saville in conversation with Suzie Mackenzie in: 'Under The Skin', quoted in The Guardian, 22 October 2005)


An undisputed heavyweight of the YBA movement who is often regarded as the only worthy successor to Lucian Freud's portraiture crown, Jenny Saville's carnal canvases wallow in the expansive and unnerving nudity they contain. And while certain artistic similarities may be discerned between her own oversized fleshy nudes and Freud's gargantuan images of Leigh Bowery and Sue Tilley, there is a broad conceptual divide separating the two artists. The present work is a complete study for one of Saville's most iconic and groundbreaking self-portraits, Branded (fig. 1). It shows her own body from a waist-high viewpoint that pushes her dramatically foreshortened proportions to the brink of the grotesque. Clutching at the loose folds of her mottled skin with faceless despair, her grossly distorted form points with an agonising frankness to the disparity between the way women are perceived and the way they feel about their bodies. In the larger Branded version, Saville underlines this disparity even further by inscribing on her body adjectives often used to describe women: "supportive" is scratched across one breast, "irrational" across the other; "delicate" and "petite" across her midriff.

Coming of age during the image conscious 1980s, Saville was a true child of her time. Her exaggerated, unflattering depictions of her own body reflect her generation's fascination with the self and its beautification through fashion. Her work, like that of other 'feminist' artists like Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman and Kiki Smith, is driven by an acute awareness of identity politics. "Everyone was obsessed with the body," Saville recalls. "It was all about dieting, gym, the body beautiful." (ibid.)

She began painting the body for all sorts of reasons, though mostly because: "The art I like concentrates on the body. I don't have a feel for Poussin, but for Courbet and Velásquez - artists who get to the flesh. Visceral artists - Bacon, Freud. And de Kooning, of course."  (ibid.) Her sensuous handling of paint combines the material intensity of Freud's brushwork with the corpulent celebration of Rubens'. In Flesh Study she creates a surface that begs to be touched; a dappled impasto patchwork of pinks and whites, offset by deep blues and greys, that nurtures a terrific fullness of form and latent emotion. "It's about the flesh, and trying to make paint behave in a way that flesh behaves. Using its material quality to communicate the way in which female body behaves." (Jenny Saville in conversation with Martin Gayford in: Exhibition Catalogue, New York, Gagosian Gallery, Jenny Saville Territories, 1999, p. 30) 

By transforming fat and flesh into something sumptuous and beautiful, Saville's vast paintings of massive bodies raise questions about the body's broader social echoes in today's acutely image conscious and media driven society. As the artist herself explains: "Beauty is always associated with what the male fantasy of the female body is. I don't think there is anything wrong with beauty. It's just what women think is beautiful can be different. And there can be beauty in individualism. If there's a wart or a scar, this can be beautiful, in a sense, when you paint it. It's part of your identity." (Jenny Saville in conversation with David Sylvester in: 'Areas of Flesh', The Independent on Sunday, 30 January 1994)