Maggi Hambling: War Requiem

Maggi Hambling is one of Britain’s most celebrated and controversial contemporary artists. Her best-known works are her public sculpture of Oscar Wilde in London and The Scallop, celebrating composer Benjamin Britten, on the beach at Aldeburgh. But her paintings are just as remarkable, stirring emotions through broad, intense brush strokes and an unflinchingly direct engagement with her subject matter. Possessing a candor and emotiveness that is at odds with much contemporary art, Hambling’s paintings are distinct and unforgettable.

War Requiem for the first time brings together Hambling’s many paintings of battlefields and the victims of war. Though fiercely contemporary, the paintings nonetheless feel timeless and speak to conflicts everywhere—from the most ancient to those in the here and now.

Published to accompany an exhibit of Hambling’s work last summer at SNAP: Art at the Aldeburgh Festival, War Requiem stands as a bold testament to the anguish and absurdity of war.
Essays by noted art historian James Cahill draw upon extensive interviews with the artist and help to place War Requiem within the larger context of Hambling’s oeuvre. As the centennial of World War I brings inevitable public reflection about war and history, War Requiem offers a stark reminder of the costs of conflict.