‘Rediscovered Treasures’ art exhibition

Bringing together the cream of Malta’s artists of the 20th century is no easy task. But giving the public the opportunity to buy works of artists like Emvin Cremona, Esprit Barthet, LM Galea, Robert Caruana Dingli, George Fenech, Joseph Bellia, Vincenzo Pellegrini, Vincenzo D’Esposito and Willie Apap is indeed an art collector’s dream.

These and many, many more will be featured in this year’s edition of Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar’s art exhibition Rediscovered Treasures, which is indeed a treasuretrove of art spanning the second half of the 20th century, the earliest being Luigi Maria Galea 18471917 and Vincenzo d’Esposito 1886-1946. Their tranquil seascapes give way to the artistic changes that followed, forged at a time when public tastes were still firmly anchored in the past. It took courage for leading artists, notably Esprit Barthet, Vincenzo Pellegrini, Robert Caruana Dingli and Emvin Cremona whose iconic Figures Before Valletta Cathedral, to risk commissions as they strove to break out of the conformism of the past to bring Maltese art in line with exciting artistic developments on the Continent. More recent artists like the versatile Isabelle Borg, Joseph Bellia, known for his impressionist landscapes, the ethereal works of John Martin Borg and John Borg Manduca, and the solid figures of Antoine Calleja are also represented.

This exhibition also showcases a good number of foreign artists who painted Malta: Deirdre Henty Creer, Matt Bruce, Michael Crawley, Sylvia Halliday and Ronald Gordon, each of whom enriched Maltese art with their own interpretations of Maltese landscapes and streetscapes.

The exhibition also boasts an eclectic mix of genres, from seascapes to landscapes, traditional styles to impressionist and abstract, portraits and possibly most interestingly, the line-up includes figure studies by George Fenech and Willie Apap. Rediscovered Treasures is open to the public until Friday, 10 November from 9.30am to 12pm and 2.30 to 4pm (Friday closes 2pm) at the Italian Cultural Institute, Pjazza San Gorg, Valletta.