The UK artist Jenny Saville will show previously unseen works in Venice next year, as part of a major exhibition highlighting her links to the famed Italian city.
The show at the International Gallery of Modern Art at Ca’ Pesaro (27 March-22 November 2026) will feature around 30 works in total, all dating from the last 30 years (Saville plans to show an unseen cycle created in homage to the lagoon city). The exhibition, which will include works from private and public collections, coincides with the 61st Venice Biennale (9 May-22 November 2026).
Saville says in a statement: “Venice represents a place where art is an intrinsic part of everyday life and where the Biennale artists of today sit in dialogue with these great Venetian artworks. It’s a great honour to have the opportunity to exhibit in Venice.”
An exhibition statement adds: “Saville’s practice is deeply rooted in the history of painting and at Ca’ Pesaro her monumental canvases engage in dialogue with the great painters of the past present in Venice, creating a unique encounter between contemporary painting and the city’s artistic heritage.”
A major survey of Saville’s work launched at the National Portrait Gallery in London earlier this year. The Anatomy of Painting, which opened in June, traced Saville’s practice from the 1990s to the present day.
Asked at the time about her relationship with art history, Saville told The Art Newspaper: “I think for all contemporary painters who look at Old Masters, the Old Masters are contemporary to them. You only have to go and see the Titian room at the National Gallery [in London], it’s just sensational.”
Saville has also received market acclaim, including breaking the auction record for a living female artist in 2018 when her self-portrait Propped (1992) sold for £9.5m (with fees) at Sotheby’s in London.
