Last Wednesday, coinciding with the opening of Art Basel Miami Beach, the nearby Norton Museum of Art (in West Palm Beach) opened an exhibition of paintings by Jenny Saville. Saville first earned notice in the 1990s as a Young British Artist as part of Charles Saatchi’s Sensation show, but this is her first survey at an American museum.
The Saville show is noteworthy for another reason: it’s the first in the Norton’s RAW series. RAW stands for Recognition of Art by Women, and it’s funded by the Leonard and Sophie Davis Fund/MLDauray Arts Initiative “to discover, highlight, showcase and promote living women artists.”
The series title is apropos — Saville’s works, too, could be described as raw. As the Norton says,
Her monumental compositions of the female form were unromantic and suggested the reality of weight, flesh and blood. Initially restricted to a feminist critique Saville’s skill and compositions have evolved. She continues to paint luscious canvases that reveal that her subject has always been the medium of painting itself. Taking on the challenge of the history of modern painting through the tradition of classical figure painting her contribution is the subject of this exhibition.
The exhibit — from early career paintings and drawings to never-before-seen, new work, including a series of works on paper inspired by a preparatory drawing by Leonardo — is designed to display Saville’s evolution. Her works, often a comment on mortality, are not, shall we say, pretty. They at, at times, difficult to view. This show will challenge the Norton audience, and that will be interesting to watch.
The Davis Fund donated $1.5 million to finance RAW last May. Through 2016, the Norton will organize an annual exhibition featuring living women artists.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Norton Museum of Art