Jenny Saville response exhibition to Rubens and His Legacy: Van Dyck to Cézanne, Royal Academy

In response to the Royal Academy 2015 exhibition – Rubens and His Legacy, painter Jenny Saville curates a provocative new exhibition of contemporary art. Saville said: “Whether you think like Rubens or not, his influence runs through the pathways of paintings. Like Warhol, he changed the game of art.”

While this responsive display to one of the best exhibitions in London 2015 brings together some big names from the modern and contemporary art world such as Willem de Kooning, Francis Bacon, Pablo Picasso and Lucian Freud; Saville is also treating us to new grotesque, fleshy figures at Burlington House. Whether she’s pressing herself up against a pane of glass or wedging fleshy stomachs and thighs into tight corners, Jenny Saville loves to paint the skin – and we love her for it. In these new works Saville reveals her connection to Rubens who inspired her with his similarly voluptuous women.

Tim Marlow, Director of Artistic Programmes, said: “Jenny Saville’s understanding of Rubens’ work is intellectual, emotional and visceral. I’m not sure any other contemporary artist feels so passionately about the Flemish master or understands his work so profoundly. This project for the RA is both a personal journey of exploration and a conversation with Rubens conducted through the art of her contemporaries, various twentieth century masters and, of course, her own extraordinary work.”

For contemporary art lovers at this Royal Academy London exhibition, look out for the tactile Cecily Brown paintings and British representative at the Venice Biennale 2015, Sarah Lucas.

If you love Jenny Saville’s paintings of raw flesh at the Royal Academy Rubens exhibition, take a peek at the contemporary art exhibitions that Culture Whisper recommends.