Anne von Freyburg: Filthy Cute

Saatchi Gallery presents Filthy Cute, a solo exhibition by Anne von Freyburg featuring large-scale works that reimagine textile as a medium within the tradition of painting, challenging traditional hierarchies between craft, decoration, and fine art.

Von Freyburg’s works, including two reinterpretations of Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s Progress of Love series, offer a critical reflection on the clichés of heterosexual romance and societal expectations of women. Through her vibrant, textile paintings, she explores the pressures women face, particularly the expectations of being ‘caretakers’ and ‘pleasers’, while championing self-empowerment, kindness, and the freedom to define one’s own identity.

The exhibition also features works from von Freyburg’s floral series, where she draws inspiration from the 17th-century Dutch Masters’ flower still lifes. These works address themes of what she calls “commodity fetishism” and aim to renew the significance of traditional floral paintings while celebrating the feminine.

Von Freyburg’s floral work also features in Saatchi Gallery’s current major exhibition, FLOWERS – FLORA IN CONTEMPORARY ART & CULTURE, where her use of textiles and bold materials highlights the sensual and visual pleasures of the feminine form and culture.