Gaze (section)

A face fills the entire frame, so close that the viewer meets it eye to eye. Two clear blue eyes stare out with startling precision, painted so carefully they seem almost real, while the skin around them dissolves into wild streaks of yellow, orange, and red. This striking work is by Jenny Saville, a British painter born in 1970 who made her name with the Young British Artists in the 1990s. Known for enormous, unflinching portraits of the human body, Saville created "Gaze" in 2000, and it captures everything that draws people to her painting.

The real magic lives in the clash between two ways of painting. Saville handles the eyes with tight, patient control, then attacks the cheeks and mouth with rough, sloppy brushwork that never lets you forget you are staring at thick paint. She has said she wants her pictures to feel like actual flesh instead of neat images of it, and the heavy, sculptural surface here does exactly that. In real life these faces loom far larger than any person, which makes the effect even stronger.

The title works in both directions at once. While you examine every messy stroke and small flaw, the figure looks right back, calm and direct. It is a raw kind of beauty that skips the flattery and holds your attention all the same.