Joseph Borg Xuereb : a critical appreciation and a gazetteer of his works

Abstract

This long essay seeks to evaluate the artistic output of Joseph Borg Xuereb (1928-1996), analysing his stylistic development. In order to do this, a representative cross-section of Borg Xuereb's artistic production has been provided. Part of this dissertation concerns the artist's training, both locally and abroad, taking into consideration the encounters Borg Xuereb had with modern art abroad, so as to establish how such influences determined the artist's mode of expression throughout his artistic career. His training abroad is also examined in light of his contribution towards the development of art education locally. This essay also seeks to explore Borg Xuereb's artistic development from the traditionally accepted style prevalent in Malta in the decades of the 1940s and 1950s, towards a modern idiom. Borg Xuereb made great advancements towards the acceptability of modern art in Malta, yet attempts will be made to explain how the artist could always go back to a conventional style, even in his mature works. This was usually done in order to achieve a desired effect which would further emphasise the theme being depicted. Special consideration is placed on assessing Borg Xuereb's role in promoting modern art in Malta, namely through the Modern Art Circle (later known as the Modern Art Group, and eventually Atelier '56), and through art criticism in the local newspapers. The works selected for evaluation in this dissertation reveal the proficiency of Borg Xuereb's creativity, which his never-ending research into variations of form, colour and media.