A great pioneer of modern art in Malta

On August 19, Joseph Paul Cassar officially launched his benchmark book Pioneers of Modern Art during a ceremony at the National Museum of Fine Arts. I had reviewed the book for The Sunday Times last October.

Fenech’s name was synonymous with working en plein air. He also idolised everyday objects, such as chairs, and vegetables and thistles- Charlene Vella

It is sad that since writing the book review, some of the leading protagonists have passed away. Last to go was George Fenech (1926-2011), who passed away less than two days after the book launch.

Fenech has a very special niche in the history of Maltese modern art and he deserves to be commemorated.

It is a shame that in the exhibition that accompanied the book launch, ‘Sensibilities in Maltese Art’, Fenech’s work was not included. It is a small consolation that he features in a plaster portrait by Edward Pirotta. Perhaps it was a lack of space, but it is nonetheless sad that a work of his was not included.

The first image that springs to mind when thinking of Fenech is that of a smiling gentleman – a perfect gentleman. The second is of an inspired artist working at his easel in the Mellieħa countryside he treasured so much.

His lovable nature will be forever reflected in the humble and bucolic themes he enjoyed painting. Even a still life evoked the rustic feel of the Maltese countryside and way of life.

In Fenech’s work we have the Maltese landscape, particularly that of Mellieħa and its environs, forever immortalised.

His nostalgia for the Mellieħa he remembered in his youth (before pretentious development set in) is one of the main influences that shaped his art. Like every other Maltese town and village, Mellieħa is constantly changing and expanding, with an unhappy impact on the natural landscape.

Fenech found refuge in sites he most enjoyed to be in and paint. He was forever in search of beauty, be it in a lonely razzett, or intriguing rock formations such as those at San Niklaw, or the obvious Torri l-Aħmar, among many other places.

Fenech’s name was synonymous with working en plein air. He also idolised everyday objects, such as chairs and vegetables and thistles.

His oeuvre also features several portraits and peopled genre scenes, and there is also a religious vein.

A still life entitled Memories of War dating to 1980 shows the war’s profound impact on the artist, as it did on everyone else who lived through it. In 1944, the young Fenech joined the army, but it is in drawing that he excelled, not the use of weapons.

With Fenech’s meeting with Vincent Apap a few years later, and subsequent enrollment in the Government School of Art, began his formal training.

After eight years of studying at the Government School of Art, Fenech won one of the School’s scholarships to continue his studies in Rome. This was 1956, and so Fenech proceeded to the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome.

This is where en plein air painting was encouraged. He returned to Malta in 1961 to establish himself as “the painter of Malta”.

All of his works are painted with a pondering eye, where detail was spared and the capturing of a moment was all-important. Each painting was executed with a fresh approach with a brush laden with paint.

Mellieħa owes much to Fenech, but Fenech also owed much to the picturesque rural town. When describing one or the other, you realise how interchangeable the adjectives used can be. Just think of the rich, albeit subdued, chromatic schemes that animate Fenech’s work: it is all reflected in the Mellieħa environs.

Moreover, Mellieħa provided the ideal setting for following in the footsteps of Cézanne, one of Fenech’s major sources of inspiration.

The funeral sermon began so: “Miet George l-artist” (“George the artist, passed away”). And that is indeed how he was known by the locals. One could not remove Fenech’s art from who he was, and vice versa.

His 2004 BoV retrospective exhibition was a major tribute to his artistic career, but there are numerous exhibitions to his name, mainly in collective endeavours. That he held only but a few personal one-man shows, is revealing once again of his reticent nature.

He is now in the company of all the great artists that left an impact on Maltese art.