Published to accompany the exhibition Maggi Hambling: Nightingale Night, 9 November 2024 – 27 April 2025 at Pallant House GalleryMaggi Hambling has over time responded to the sound of song in her work, consistently capturing it in gold against a black ground―to date her diverse subjects have included the singers Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, P J Harvey, and Will Young. More recently, and following a night spent in the Sussex wilderness in the company of folk singer Sam Lee listening to the song of the nightingale, the artist embarked on a new series of paintings, capturing the song of this small migratory songbird.James Cahill’s text places Hambling’s striking new nightingale series in context and considers the long history of the nightingale, which has been celebrated by writers, poets, artists and musicians for thousands of years.
