Though the materiality and methodology of their artistic practices differ greatly, the works of Maggi Hambling and Richard Long, two of Britain’s most anarchic and pioneering contemporary artists, demonstrate their mutual fascination with the natural world.
Four times Turner-prize shortlisted Richard Long is principally known as a land artist. His work appears in many guises, be it photographic, textual, sculptural, painterly, or performative. Whilst the disciplines he works in are varied, the subject matter of Long’s work - the environment and our relationship to it - has remained constant. Meditating upon his experience of the landscape, Long’s works, which often utilise found materials, such as earth, rock, foliage, and even his own bodyweight, are typically not designed to remain intact, reflecting the ephemerality of time, experience, memory, and nature.
One of Richard Long's River Avon mud drawings. Available at the Art & Design Sale on 27th October.
Offered in the October 27th Art & Design Sale will be one of Richard Long’s River Avon mud drawings. Demonstrating uncharacteristic permanence, Long’s mud drawings are created by dipping paper sheets into wet mud taken from the River Avon, in his hometown of Bristol. Once dipped, Long displays the pages upside down, revealing the meandering fluvial streams, thinning as they reach the top of the page. Each drawing unique, the patterns created by the muddy runs mimic the sinuous course of the river, whilst the elemental material used invokes the primal spirits of our ancestors and suggests our enduring relationship with the natural world. This particular example has been consigned from a private London collector and has a pre-sale estimate of £3000-5000.
Wave Tunnel, by Maggi Hambling. Available at the Art & Design Sale on 27th October
Maggi Hambling lives and works between Suffolk and London and is one of Britain’s most successful, yet controversial artists. Similarly primal and performative to Richard Long’s works are her North Sea Paintings, five of which will be offered in the October Art & Design Sale. Initiated in November 2002, whilst awaiting the commission for her sculptural work Scallop, Hambling’s North Sea paintings mirror the ferocious power of the North Sea by placing the viewer within the roaring maw of the wave. Like Long’s mud drawings, there is a sense of great physicality associated with Hambling’s wave paintings, the thick and gestural application of paint on the canvas accurately mimics the energy and unrestrained power of the ocean.
The market for Maggi Hambling paintings has been growing steadily over the past two years and shows no sign of slowing in the near future. The five paintings in question have been consigned from a private collection and are estimated to sell for £3000-5000 apiece.
Wild Summer Sea II, by Maggi Hambling. Available at the Art & Design Sale on 27th October
The Art & Design Sale will take place at Cheffins’ Cambridge salerooms on 27th October. To view the calendar for upcoming Fine Art Sales at Cheffins, please click here.