34 Facts About Jenny Sages

Jenny Sages is known for her abstract landscape paintings and portraits.

Jenny Sages was a freelance writer and illustrator for Vogue Australia until the 1980s before starting full-time painting in 1985 at the age of 52.

Jenny Sages was born in Shanghai, China, in 1933, and did not move to Sydney, Australia, until she was 14.

Jenny Sages's parents were Russian, and she was their only child.

Jenny Sages then went to New York and studied at the Franklin School of Art for three-and-a-half years from 1951 to 1954 and graduated in Fine Art, Design and Commercial Art.

Jenny Sages recalled in an interview with Maria Stoljar in 2017 that she did not acquire any painting skills from art school in New York, but studied fashion illustration instead, which later helped launching her career in the fashion industry.

In 1983, Jenny Sages went on a trip to Kimberley that became a turning point in her career, as she later decided to pursue full-time career as an artist.

Jenny Sages has been working on her art in her private studio located in Double Bay, Sydney since 1985, and regularly held exhibitions in Sydney and Canberra since 1988.

Jenny Sages has taken up the role as a judge for the Adelaide Perry prize in 2013.

Jenny Sages was one of the pioneering artists in Australia to apply the encaustic method to her paintings, as she was inspired by the Fayum portraits of Ancient Egypt.

Jenny Sages expressed to Wilson that she is fond of the way these materials bring depth and character to her portrait subjects' faces.

Jenny Sages creates her work using kitchen knives scraping into the surface of the boards, forming indentations for pigments to settle.

Jenny Sages is known in the Australian art scene mainly for her abstract landscape paintings and her deeply connecting portraits.

Jenny Sages said in an interview that she never takes commission to do portraits because she only does it for her loved ones, motivated by her own interest.

Jenny Sages composed several self-portraits, including Each morning when I wake up I put on my mother's face and After Jack.

Jenny Sages expressed that the process of painting was driven by grief.

One of Jenny Sages best-known works, My Jack is a portrait of her late husband Jack Jenny Sages that won the 2011 Archibald finalist.

Jenny Sages started painting her husband in June, 2010, and finished in July.

Jack Jenny Sages died at the age of 85, on 1 October 2010.

Jack Jenny Sages played a profound role in her artist career and her personal life.

Jenny Sages said in interviews that her husband's frequent participation in her preparatory work and provided care and moral support while she pursued her artist career.

Jenny Sages completed a portrait of Emily, Emily Kame Kngwarreye with Lily in 1993, later becoming the first piece collected by the National Portrait Gallery in 1998.

Jenny Sages started to seek opportunity to paint Helen Garner since 1996, after reading Garner's book True Stories.

Jenny Sages appreciates Sages portraying her in less flattering but more realistic aesthetic.

Jenny Sages painted Kate Grenville's portrait Kate in 2012 and the piece is currently under the National Portrait Gallery's collection.

Grenville described in an interview with the National Portrait Gallery that her connection with Jenny Sages was built on their resonating creative process, as both of them let their materials guide them on the journey of creation.

Jenny Sages has been a finalist for the Archibald Prize at least 20 times.

Jenny Sages has been the hung in the Archibald as the subject of the work of Jiawei Shen's 2002 Finalist's work The lady from Shanghai.

Jenny Sages has been hung in the Blake Prize and Dobell Prize.

Jenny Sages has won the Portia Geach Memorial Award twice: in 1994 for her portrait Ann Thomson, and in 1992 for her portrait Nancy Borlase and Laurie Short.

Jenny Sages received a highly commended in the Wynne Prize in 1999 with The Leichhardt.

Jenny Sages was interviewed in the 2005 Peter Berner documentary Loaded Brush.

Jenny Sages is the subject of the documentary Paths to Portraiture by filmmaker Catherine Hunter.

In 2012 Jenny Sages turned her gaze inward in an attempt to capture her grief.