Above left is one of Jenny Saville‘s audacious and visually compelling nudes from the early 1990s which kick-started her career after graduation from Glasgow School of Art. She was ‘discovered’ by Charles Saatchi and her work was included in the seminal exhibition Sensation at the Royal Academy. And on the right is a bold and colourful portrait from 2020.

I was very impressed by the more recent charcoal and pastel on canvas works from 2019- 21. The influence of renaissance artists like Michaelangelo is clear to see but her execution of these monumental nudes is so confident and brave. Likewise, the smaller studies of heads and the wonderful ‘tangle’ of bodies with sgraffito are fabulously made.

I was fascinated by the variety of colour, technique and painterly styles used in the creation of the more recent portraits. There’s obvious layering of pigment and a wild bravery in then covering detail with bold brush strokes of single colour followed by scratching and squiggles of new colour on top.

The exhibition is presented chronologically with the more fleshy nudes and portraits at the start and then you can see the evolution into wild introduction of opposite colours, daubs, splashes and energetic, gestural strokes across areas of painting which other artists might consider as ‘finished’, but Saville finishes all her new pieces with wonderful bravura additions which give the final works such energy.

It’s a wonderful show and I urge anyone with an interest in contemporary art and figurative painting to visit the National Portrait Gallery and revel in this visual feast.