George Fenech exhibition

Joseph F.X. Zahra, chairman of Bank of Valletta, must be very proud indeed as on May 28 President Fenech Adami inaugurated the 11th BoV retrospective exhibition. Mr Zahra's vision of promoting Maltese art is laudable and should be followed by other banks and by major commercial companies.

Other companies have taken the task of spreading the knowledge and love of art through other ways. Since 1989 the Middlesea Group has been exposing to Malta and other countries past and contemporary artists in their yearly calendar Focus on Maltese Art. Air Malta in their in-flight magazine have always had two whole pages, written by E.V. Borg, dedicated to a local artist. Mr Borg should be congratulated on his monthly contributions.

A word of encouragement and congratulations go to the new MIA magazine for dedicating two pages to local art. The contributor is Emmanuel Fiorentino, who in his first article for this magazine has written about the BoV exhibitions.

My father, the late Dr Vincenzo Maria Pellegrini (1911-1997), had this vision of promoting Maltese art and culture since the early 1949, when he set up and published the monthly Italian-language magazine La Crociata.

This was well received abroad as can be seen from the letters and articles by local and foreign well-known writers who regularly sent their contributions. It was in these years that local artists found it very difficult to sell their paintings in Malta as their art was not yet appreciated. Two of our best artists had to move abroad to earn a living. I am referring to Willie Apap (1918-1970) and George Preca (1909-1984).

Since January 20, 1992 we have the Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, a true blessing for Maltese art and culture. It has given us the opportunity to see and appreciate the wealth of our art and culture, be it by exhibitions of international standard, various important books and including the publication of Treasures of Malta.

George Fenech needs no introduction - his art has been followed by one and all. His vision and knowledge of the use of appropriate colours single him out from other artists.

His landscapes are so full of light almost transparent in their execution. In 1957, when Fenech was still studying in Rome, V.M. Pellegrini wrote: "Although it is far too soon to pronounce any definite judgment on Fenech's ultimate worth as an artist, there is no doubt that the qualities revealed in his works promise well for the future". How right he was! Today, 47 years later, we can admire the beauty and charm of Fenech's work.

Fenech was born on January 3, 1926. In 1956 he was awarded a scholarship at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome. He studied painting under Amerigo Bartoli.

His other tutors were Mino Maccari and Ferruccio Ferrazzi for etching and decoration respectively. He also studied fresco techniques under Professor Ciotti. In the evenings, he attended Life classes at the Circolo Artistico in Via Margutta. In 1960 his scholarship was extended by a year on the recommendation of Michele Guerrisi, director of the academy.

In the catalogue of an exhibition of Fenech's works, held at the University of Malta in 1996, Lino Borg and Joseph Paul Cassar wrote: "The art of George Fenech has a unique forceful style of its own, consisting of balanced tonal arrangements that capture the character of what he sees: bottles, shells and other common objects, farmhouses, village life, farmers, fishermen and their boats, the grass in a quiet landscape and the majesty of rock". His pictures are indeed poetry in colour.

On display at the BoV exhibition are 53 paintings, which include designs, religious subjects, portraits, still-lifes and landscapes. The exhibition curator is Chief Justice Emeritus Professor J.J. Cremona, who must have found great help from Doris Fenech, who has always conserved with great love and devotion each and every article written on her husband George.

This is an exhibition worth seeing, only in such retrospective exhibitions one has the chance to see the artist whole oeuvre.