Victor Pasmore in Malta

Abstract

The aim of this long essay is to provide a proper documentation on Victor Pasmore while he was living in Malta. This was achieved by reading all the literature available on Pasmore's life and works. Unfortunately most of the published material on Pasmore's life and artistic development ends with the following declaration: in 1966 Victor Pasmore settled in Malta without discussing his life on the island. Pasmore was still working after this date and came out with interesting new developments. This can be proved with the help of exhibition catalogues and interviews written on a number of magazines. This dissertation will discuss what Victor Pasmore did during his long stay in Malta. In order to do this I had to place the artist in his proper historical perspective, hence the decision to start with a brief discussion on Pasmore's life in Great Britain. I also mention briefly his development from a realist to an abstract artist as well as his teaching methods in Art Schools eventually leading to the 1960's when Pasmore started visiting Malta on a regular basis. I discuss how he settled and how he integrated with the Maltese in particularly his relationship with the contemporary local artists. Pasmore was a prolific artist. This is evident when following an analysis of works throughout the years especially when he was living in Malta. He used different media and techniques which with he experimented on a regular basis. One of my main aims is to give a detailed critical analyses focusing on the different materials and techniques used by Pasmore. I will be illustrating the latter by means of examples concentrating in particularly on those which can be found in Malta. It is impossible to bring together all of his works carried out in Malta due to the limitation presented by a fair amount of Pasmore's work forms part of private collections in Malta and abroad. Furthermore I also refer to who were the Contemporary Maltese artists who encountered Pasmore personally. I discuss his relationship with a few of his Maltese friends and also Pasmore's interest in the local artistic scene. All eventually leads to a discussion on the influence of this International Artist on the local artists. This friendship between Pasmore and the local art connoisseurs led to a small number of one-man exhibitions together with a few collective exhibitions. Regrettably I found very little material locally that recognises the importance of these exhibitions, I will outline their importance offering critical analysis of the major works.