20th century Maltese artists : exhibition of drawings and paintings : Vincent Apap, Willie Apap, Esprit Barthet, Giuseppe Briffa, Emvin Cremona & Josef Kalleya

Abstract

This small corpus of nine paintings, drawings and studies by six important Maltese twentieth century artists, from the art collection of Michael Grech Financial Investment Services, provides an interesting insight into some facets of the significant artistic talent which Malta fostered in the twentieth century. The artists represented here, including Josef Kalleya (1898-1998), Giuseppe Briffa (1901-1987), the brothers Vincent A pap (1909-2002) and Willie Apap (1918-1970), together with the latter's exact contemporaries Emvin Cremona (1919-1987) and Esprit Barthet (1919-1999), constitute some of the major talents that Malta ever produced. Albeit small, the selection of works presented in this exhibition provides the opportunity to understand the nature of Maltese Art from the mid- to late twentieth century. One has to keep in mind that the ascent of art in Malta to Modernity was a difficult one which came quite late when compared to developments on the continent. One of the main causes was the hold that the Roman Catholic Church had on Maltese society up to World War II, which partly resulted in a great cultural bond with neighbouring Italy. Moreover, most Maltese artists went to study in Rome at a time when the tenets of the Regia Accademia di Belle Arti were still rather conservative. It was therefore not until the late 1940s - with the great exception of that truly remarkable artist Carmelo Mangion (1905-1997) - that Modern ideas start really making headway in the works of Maltese artists. Thus, those artists who, like Mangion, came in touch with the more exciting and more avant-garde centres like New York, London and Paris show a more modern inclination; those who, like Vincent Apap received a more traditional upbringing reflect a more orthodox artistic trajectory. Others, like Emvin Cremona, intelligently brought together continuation with the avant-garde.