A R T

 On Friday 30th October I attended for the official opening of Paul Cassar's Exhibition 'Sprectrum'. Maritime Museum - Birgu.  In this exhibition there were 66 pieces consisting of abstract paintings except 5 pieces which are two portraits and city scapes.  The exhibition run till 22nd November 2015.  From this Large selection I chose 2 paintings for task 1 which are:

1. Loved To Be Loved, Oil On Canvas 2011 30x35cm.
2. Idyillic Ambience, Oil On Canvas 2011 54x6cm.

1.  Loved to be Loved, I noticed that the artist used thick paint and created texture by the use of the pallet knife.  I also noticed that a strip of the braes glued(collage) on top right of the painting.  Paul Cassar's composition is very well balanced.  The Artist painted stripes and ribbons with different colours, consisted of red blue, green and white on yellow background.  On the background these are some drip paint in various colours.  With this tiny dots the painting is seen as a whole. 

Figure 1: Loved To Be Loved (Oil On Canvas)

5.  Idyillic Ambience, is a semi-abstract painting.  Paul Cassar depicted a landscape based on yellowish hues.  In the fore ground a sign of grass and red dots of paint make it lookalike a poppy field.  This painting has a lot of groove in paint and done by means of scratching the wet paint by the end of the brush handle.  This effect is very interesting.  These makes create texture effects and also indicates perspective.  On the left of the viewer the stripes of the brass are shaped like flowers and grass.  This enhances the luminosity of the composition.

Figure 2: Idyillic Ambience (Oil On Canvas)

  I also visited the National Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta.  This is one of the oldest Baraque palace built by the Knights of St. John.  The wonderful museum contains a selection of works of art executed by many local and foreign artists. Among these works,  I was impressed by the work of: 

1. Lazzaro Pisani - Death of Abel (1854-1952) Oil on Canvas
2. Frank Portelli - Agony of Christ in the Garden of Olives (1922-2004) Oil on Canvas
3. Caeser Attard - Pregnant Madonna (1946) Oil On Canvas

    Lazzro Pisani was a local artist born in Malta.  He studied art in the British academy in Rome.  The 'Death of Abel' was an important landmark for Pisani's career.  He won a silver Medal for this opulent work when it was exhibited in Colonia in London in 1885.  In this work Pisani shows a very skillful and excellent draftsmanship.  The painting is oil on canvas the composition is very well balanced and it shows how Pisani depicted every detail with a fine art.

Figure 1: Death Of Abel. (Oil On Canvas)



  Frank Portelli is a very well known for his geometric forms in his paintings.  In this painting he used this geometric style, where he play with these forms and creates an amazing composition.  He shows the agony of Christ by exaggerating the pose of praying. In this composition Christ  is in the left side of the viewer consequently the composition is balanced by the three apostles sleeping on the right of the viewer.  He used dull colours to show agony of that moment while the paintings turns slightly into an abstract form.


Figure 2: Agony of Christ in the Garden of Olives. (Oil On Canvas) 


  Ceaser Attard (B1946) is one of the important artist of the modern and contemporary art in Malta.  His works are mostly look spontaneous and expressive.  Ceaser does not afraid to reach out boundaries.  In the painting he had made of the 'Pregnant Madonna' was a controversial work at that time, although it was accepted for Sacred Art Exhibition of 1970 the work was criticized for its nudity.  The painting is characterized with the techniques of free brush strokes.  The figure is stylized and slightly flat, some of the figure is integrated into the background.The painting has very influences  of the abstract forms.  The pregnant Madonna and the background in this composition are well integrated that makes the painting looks as a whole.      
  
 
Figure 3: Pregnant Madonna. (Oil On Canvas)