Gallery 21, Snape Maltings
24 October – 24 December 2026
Admission – Free
A first chance to see this body of work incorporating 42 new pieces by trailblazing and controversial British artist Maggi Hamblin.
Britten Pears Arts is delighted to welcome Maggi Hambling to Gallery 21, Snape Maltings for her latest exhibition ‘Fireworks Over the Sea’. Including 42 new works of oils on board, it is inspired by a special moment in her childhood.
“When I was 7, the 1953 Coronation was celebrated at Aldeburgh by fireworks over the sea. Those resounding explosions, I realise now, gave rise, much later, to the explosion in Scallop, my sculpture for Benjamin Britten on Aldeburgh Beach. These paintings are from memory of those fireworks.”
– Maggi Hambling
The exhibition coincides with the installation ‘War Requiem’ returning to the Dovecote Studio at Snape Maltings. The works are inspired by Benjamin Britten’s work of the same title, which was premiered in 1962 to commemorate the re-dedication of Coventry Cathedral, which was bombed in World War II. Hambling’s installation of paintings depicts war victims and battlefields.
Maggi Hambling is a celebrated British painter and sculptor, renowned for her expressive portraits and lyrical depictions of landscapes and seascapes. Hambling began her artistic training locally at Cedric Morris and Lett Haines’ East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in 1960, later continuing her studies at the Ipswich (1962–64), Camberwell (1964–67), and Slade (1967–69) Schools of Art. In 1980, she became the first contemporary artist invited to be artist-in-residence at the National Gallery, London. She is especially known for her self-portraits and portraits of influential figures, including her mentor Lett Haines, the artist Francis Bacon, and the chemist Dorothy Hodgkin. These portraits, characterised by rapid, gestural strokes, encapsulate the emotional essence of their subjects, reflecting Hambling’s fearless engagement with the immediacy of life. Beyond painting, Hambling has created a number of major public sculptures, including A Conversation with Oscar Wilde (1998), installed in central London, and Scallop (2003), on Aldeburgh beach, a tribute to composer Benjamin Britten. In recognition of her significant contributions to the arts, Hambling was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2010.
