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Artists

Jenny Saville

Painter
British·b. 1970
Known for:
large-scale figurative painting of the body
Education:
Glasgow School of Art (BA, 1988-1992)

Jenny Saville painted large-scale figurative works as a student at Glasgow School of Art that attracted Charles Saatchi's attention before she had graduated, and her subsequent paintings - enormous canvases of flesh in extreme close-up or distortion, addressing the physical experience of the body without idealization - established her as the most significant British figurative painter of her generation. She studied surgery and worked in plastic surgery departments to understand the physical reality of the body she was painting. Her Propped (1992) sold for £9.4 million at Sotheby's in 2018.

Jenny Saville's Gear List(3)

La Maison du Pastel Soft Pastels

La Maison du Pastel

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Connection note

La Maison du Pastel sent Saville a set based on Monet's garden palette and later a set matched to raw linen tones. The same Parisian shop historically made pastels for Degas.

Product description

La Maison du Pastel has manufactured soft pastels by hand in Paris since 1720 using the same historical techniques. The shop on the Quai Voltaire made pastels for Degas and continues to produce custom colors for contemporary artists. Each stick is handrolled from pure pigment with minimal binder.

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Oil Paint
Oil Paint

Generic

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Connection note

Saville's primary medium is oil paint applied in thick, sculptural layers. She drags, smears, and sculpts the paint with obsessive energy, building up visceral surfaces on massive canvases often exceeding 7 feet in height. Specific paint brand not publicly documented.

Product description

Oil paint — pigment suspended in a drying oil, typically linseed — has been the dominant painting medium since the fifteenth century. It dries slowly, allowing extended blending, and produces a rich, luminous surface. Available from dozens of manufacturers at student through professional grades.

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Oil Sticks
Oil Sticks

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Product description

Solid sticks of oil paint made by combining pigment, drying oil, and wax into a crayon-like form. Oil bars allow direct, hands-on mark-making without brushes while remaining fully compatible with traditional oil paints and mediums. They form a thin skin on the surface when stored but stay workable underneath. Drying time and blending behavior match conventional oils.

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