THE RE-BIRTH OF MALTESE ART IN THE 17 TH CENTURY - Stefano Erardi and Alessio Erardi (original) (raw)
Two Generations of Maltese Artistic Families - Volume 2
Two Generations of Maltese Artistic Families is a three-year project being undertaken by APS Bank throughout 2014-2016 recording and evaluating the contribution of six pairs of Maltese artists while eliciting inter-relationships between their milieus and their sensitivity in their respective artistic works. This initiative, which consists of a yearly publication and respective exhibition, reflects the Bank’s raison d’être, that is to complement activities carried out by other entities and bring together a collective effort of ideas by forerunners in the cultural field. Volume 1 is the first of three publications in accompaniment APS Bank’s series of Art Exhibitions, each of which feature two generations of artists. Edited by senior lecturer, art critic and curator Profs. Louis Laganà, this volume particularly celebrates the achievements of seminal artists Aldo Micallef-Grimaud and his daughter Nadine Micallef-Grimaud as well as Antoine Camilleri and his son Antoine Paul Camilleri. Volume 2 is the second in the series which celebrates the achievements of illustrious artists George Fenech and his son Gilbert Fenech as well as Joseph L. Mallia and his daughter Henriette C. Mallia. The exceptionally-written essays and psychoanalytic analysis in these books give a clear picture of how the Maltese Art Scene has changed from the 20th century onwards, especially with the emergence of more dynamic artistic tendencies.
Two Generations of Maltese Artistic Families - Volume 3
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The Discovery of Malta: Nature, Culture and Ethnicity in 19th Century Painting
1993
TIle publicationof 'llle Intem.1tional Dictionaryof Artists who patllled Malta' by Nicholas de Piro (Malta, 1988) deserves our warmest welcome. Here for the n~1 tinle til a lavish presentation are grouJX!d a large number of pallliings produced hy tile most varied artists and di leltanti (bolh Maltese and foreign) depicting M1lta on.:r a cOIlsldcrahle time period, 001 mallliy from the 19th century. 11lis i", the typcof coffee-tahle boo'" likely to grace the s.1lonsof the most varied of people ranging from the declining aristocracy to the mO'it arriviste rourgCOI<t. Th11 II can have such acmholicappcal must heallnootcd totwo foctors: many are Interested m thc:lro .... n historical culture, indeed there is much here to reUiforcc the wildest <.;OCret fantasies of many Maltese aboutlhe natw-c oflheir island and their society, although illS certamly not a "isO<.II equivalenl of a BrantOme, Second, this publication isa tangible manifcst;.lIion of a c...
At Home in Art: Essays in honour of Mario Buhagiar, C. Vella (ed.), 2016
ONE OF THE MORE FASCINATING QUALITIES about the ecclesiastical decorative arts in Malta-an artistically extraordinary field which is in the process of discovery and assessment 1-is the way they not only reflect the larger context in the other artistic dominions, but more importantly, the manner in which many times they usher in new artistic ideas. Such a scenario took place in Malta in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, especially within the ecclesiastical sphere, one of the strongest fields of local artistic production. While painting, sculpture and architecture remained dramatically conservative, design and decoration-in the form of liturgical objets d'art and items of church furnishing in silver and wood-shows palpable signs of the artistic change which was concurrently reshaping the artistic world on the Continent. This contribution discusses the exciting ways in which artistic production in Malta-essentially dominated by ecclesiastical commissions-was injected with metamorphosis through the decorative arts. This occurred through innovative ideas which percolated to the island from the more sophisticated European centres, such as Rome and Paris, but also from closer quarters to the island such as Sicily, and manifested themselves in both local production and significant foreign imports. Thus, for example, the vocabulary of Neo-Classicism first appeared in Maltese churches through the decorative arts and not in 1 This contribution is largely extracted from my recent Ph.D. thesis which was supervised by
D,Cutajar 2014 Late Baroque Art in Malta - the Buhagiar and Zahra Families.pdf
The art of native Maltese artists underwent a vigorous rebirth in the course of the 17th Century thanks to direct contacts with a number of worthy continental artists - a slow but accelerating process culminating in the excited flourish of mid-18th Century Late Baroque. This study provides the essential researched biography of the native Maltese protagonists of this phenomenon: Gio Nicola Buhagiar and Francesco Zahra.
Antonio Buhagiar (1906-98) Within the Context of the Decorative Arts in Malta*
2019
It is amply clear that one of the wealthiest fields of artistic production in the Maltese Islands is that of the decorative arts. Since at least Late Medieval times, the decorative arts have existed side by side with the other fields of the visual and fine arts, and have thrived together with painting, sculpture, and architecture. The History of Art in Malta is essentially dominated by the ecclesiastical field and it is exactly within this context that the decorative arts flourished with particular force: liturgical objets d'art, church furniture, embroideries for liturgical vestments and related paraphernalia, processional items, works of purely decorative and ornamental nature in stucco, wood, stone, marble, bronze or any other metals. In spite of all this existent wealth, they have been, however, largely overlooked, and have been little studied and published. l In an attempt to rectify this state of affairs, on the encouragement of Professor Mario Buhagiar, research on this r...
Mariano Girada: A Maltese Sculptor from Valencia
It was certainly unusual for a Maltese eighteenth-century sculptor not to proceed to Rome for his studies where he could also acquaint himself with the latest trends and works of leading artists. This is the case of Mariano Girada (1771-1823), the leading sculptor of his times and the only known Maltese artist so far to have secure and documented links with the Spanish city of Valencia. This paper seeks to review Girada’s artistic activity within the broader remit of eighteenth-century hispano-maltese connections. It suggests links with Spain, particularly Valencia, through economic activity. This could be the reason why Girada studied in Spain which, by consequence, empowered Girada to introduce a new style and aesthetics to Malta.