Maggi Hambling
Maggi Hambling (1945 -)
Born in Suffolk in 1945, Maggi Hambling is a distinguished painter and sculptor whose work can be seen in the British Museum, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Collection, The Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon and many other public collections in the UK and abroad. Hambling is also represented in London by Marlborough Fine Art and IAP Fine Art.
Her portrait of George Melly hangs in the National Portrait Gallery (see also Latest News page of this website). Her sculpture ‘A conversation with Oscar Wilde’ was unveiled in central London in 1998, and Scallop for Benjamin Britten was installed on Aldeburgh beach in 2003. Her ‘Portrait of Derek Jarman’ was recently loaned to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Maggi Hambling is a household name in British art. She was the First Artist in Residence at the National Gallery in 1980-81, and among other of her works, her portarits of George Melly and Max Wall hang in the National Portrait Gallery. Maggi Hambling is a figurative painter, sculptor and printmaker whose strong identification with her subjects is expressed in bold handling and colour.
In 1997 she was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to create a statue to commemorate Oscar Wilde. The commission resulted in an exhibition of related work at the National Portrait Gallery. Situated in Adelaide Street, behind the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, “A Conversation with Oscar Wilde” was unveiled by Chris Smith, Minister for the Arts in 1998.
In London, Hambling’s work is represented in the following public collections: The TATE, The British Museum, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery and the V&A. She is one of Britain’s best-known and controversial living artists. Her sculpture ‘Scallop’ (for Benjamin Britten) on Aldeburgh beach in Suffolk was unveiled in 2003 and aroused both praise and criticism nationwide. In 2005, it was awarded the first Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture.
In rave reviews for her 2006 sell-out exhibition at Marlborough Fine Art and the monograph MAGGI HAMBLING THE WORKS and Conversations with Andrew Lambirth (published January 2006, Unicorn Press), Maggi Hambling was said to have “succeeded where Leonardo failed” (Brian Sewell, Evening Standard) and was referred to as “the female Bacon” (The Art Newspaper).
