Jenny Saville will present previously unseen works in Venice next year as part of a major exhibition at the International Gallery of Modern Art at Ca’ Pesaro, running from 28 March to 22 November 2026. The show will feature around 30 works from the last 30 years, including a new cycle created in homage to the lagoon city, and coincides with the 61st Venice Biennale (9 May-22 November 2026). The exhibition draws from private and public collections, placing Saville's monumental canvases in dialogue with the great painters of Venice's artistic heritage.
The exhibition matters because it underscores Saville's enduring dialogue with art history and her status as one of the most significant living painters. It also highlights Venice as a site where contemporary and historical art converge, especially during the Biennale. Saville's market prominence—she broke the auction record for a living female artist in 2018 when her self-portrait *Propped* (1992) sold for £9.5m at Sotheby's—adds further weight to this institutional showcase, which follows a major survey at the National Portrait Gallery in London earlier this year.