Maltese art overview : from modernism to contemporary

Abstract

Although Malta is a small island in the Mediterranean, with a population of less than half a million, one could find a fairly large number of artists working in various fields of art and craft. Most of the artists work as ‘Sunday’ artists, and very few pursue a professional career. The first modern art groups appeared in Malta in the early 1950’s. The Modern Art Circle was formed in 1952. Way back in 1947 when young art students followed scrupulously the methodology of the Malta School of Art, they were already thinking of freeing themselves from the traditional practice of art (Cassar, 2002,80). It was a practice to send Maltese art students abroad, mostly to Italy or the United Kingdom, to continue their artistic studies. Some artists who studied abroad before the 1950’s were George Preca. Antoine Camilleri, Josef Kalleja, Esprit Barthet, Frank Portelli, Joseph Borg Xuereb, Carmelo Mangion, Gorg Borg, Envin Cremona, Hugo Carbonbaro, and Samuel Bugeja. These artists knew what was happening on the international art scene, that is, the changes toward modernism.