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Vienna – The Albertina Museum is hosting the first major solo exhibition of British artist Jenny Saville (1979) in Austria, titled ‘Gaze.’ Open from March 21 to June 29, 2025, the exhibition offers a comprehensive overview of Saville’s artistic development over the past two decades, featuring both established works and new pieces presented to the public for the first time.

Jenny Saville, born in 1970, is recognized internationally for her provocative and powerful figurative paintings. As a member of the Young British Artists movement, she gained early attention as the only figurative painter included in the 1997 Sensation exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Over her career, Saville has continuously engaged with the long-standing tradition of representing the human form, creating works that hover between idealization and deconstruction. Her figures often challenge conventional notions of beauty and ugliness, confronting viewers with their raw physicality.

Drawing inspiration from art history—from the Old Masters such as Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael, to modernists like Egon Schiele, Picasso, Francis Bacon, and Lucian Freud—Saville combines classical references with a contemporary sensibility.

The exhibition showcases Saville’s distinctive blending of painting and drawing, employing oil on large sheets of paper, pastel, and charcoal on canvas. Her work is characterized by explicit corporeality—bodies and faces depicted with immediacy and intensity that can be unsettling or provocative. Alongside her celebrated large-scale nudes and portraits, the exhibition includes contemporary variations, self-portraits, and explorations of history and identity.

Set within the historic Columned Hall of the Albertina, ‘Gaze’ emphasizes Saville’s ongoing dialogue with the body, beauty, and ugliness. The presentation also features new works, displayed for the first time, offering fresh insights into her evolving artistic practice.

Supported generously by Gagosian, this exhibition marks an important milestone for Saville’s engagement with the Austrian audience and provides a retrospective look at her influential career.

For more information, visit the Albertina Museum’s website.