Gabriel Caruana, Malta’s master of ceramics, dies at 89

Renowned Maltese artist Gabriel Caruana passed away on Monday at the age of 89.

One of Malta’s foremost artists, the ceramist and sculptor had exhibited his work in the UK, the US, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy.

Caruana was born in Balzan, Malta, in 1929. He worked with various media, exploiting their possibilities to the fullest extent, but excelled in ceramics. He was among the pioneers of modern art in Malta and his works have found recognition both in Malta and abroad.

He held solo exhibitions in Malta, England, Italy and Switzerland, and group exhibitions in Osaka, Detroit, Munich, Tripoli, London, Israel, Melbourne and several times in Malta. His works can be found at the International Museum of Ceramics of Faenza, at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, at the City of Manchester Art Gallery, and, at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Malta.

In an appreciation, Richard England writes: “With the demise of Gabriel Caruana, Malta has lost its most iconic contemporary artist; an institutional master ceramist and sculptor. Caruana was an avantgarde, inspirational, innovative, mercurial giant; the last survivor of a group of artists of the likes of the Apap brothers, Cremona, Camilleri, Portelli, Chircop, Mangion, Barthet, Preca and Kalleja, who initiated and pioneered Malta’s Modern Art scene in the Renaissance period of the middle of the last century.

Caruana will be remembered as a perennial, ever-active mythical cartographer, who reinvented himself with each work, and also for his prodigious and gargantuan outpour. Above all, one will recall the luminosity of his character, his enthusiasm and generosity; all characterised by an overwhelming mantle of humility.

The nation has lost an illustrious and eminent personality and I, a dear and much-loved friend. To his wife Mary Rose and daughters Raffaella and Gabriella, I offer my sincere and deepest condolences. He is gone, but his memory will live on in the legacy of his works; they will speak for him for many years to come.”