Jenny Saville's Diffuse Exhibition Across Florence

A major exhibition of British painter Jenny Saville, curated by Sergio Risaliti for the Museo Novecento in Florence, expands across five historic venues. Born in Cambridge in 1970 and now 51, Saville was a Young British Artist associated with Goldsmiths College and championed by Saatchi in 1997. The show traces her evolution from portraiture to layered, multi-perspectival works influenced by contemporary digital experience. At the Museo Novecento, her portraits—often selfie-like and claustrophobic—are displayed alongside drawings that deconstruct anatomy. A 2019 self-portrait pays homage to Rembrandt. The monumental 'Rosetta II' (2000-06) occupies the former church of the Spedale. The theme of the Pietà recurs throughout, with studies shown at Casa Buonarroti alongside Michelangelo's Bandini Pietà. At Palazzo Vecchio's Salone del Cinquecento, 'Fulcrum' (1998-99) marks her first solo show at Gagosian in 1999. The Museo dell'Opera del Duomo pairs her charcoal Pietà (2019/21) with Michelangelo's work. At the Museo degli Innocenti, 'The Mothers' (2011) and 'Byzantium' (2018) are on view. Saville's recent paintings, such as 'Prism', 'Chasah', 'Arcadia' (2020), and 'Messenger' (2020-21), reflect a fragmented reality shaped by Zoom calls and news feeds, with overlapping, liquid imagery. The exhibition includes a video interview with Nicholas Cullinan produced by Gagosian.