Maggi Hambling, National Gallery

Returning to the National Gallery, London for the first time in almost 35 years, Maggi Hambling’s latest exhibition Walls of Water is a spectacular visual feast. Hambling, artist and sculptor, began the series in 2010, although none of the canvases have been exhibited before.
Amongst the array of National Gallery exhibitions 2014, these eight monumental canvases depict Maggi Hambling’s waves of expansive water crashing onto the sea wall in her native Southwold in Suffolk. There is also a ninth smaller canvas produced in response to Amy Winehouse’s death back in 2011. The paintings offer a contemporary parallel to the seascapes and landscapes by Norwegian artist Peder Balke, concurrently on show in the Sunley Room.
Hambling’s canvases radiate an intensity of colour and energy that is awe- inspiring. Commenting on the series, she writes: ‘The one crucial thing that only painting can do is to make you feel as if you’re there while it’s being created – as if it’s happening in front of you.’ Well said. Catch it while you can!