Hour of Three

For six weeks every year, for the past 15 years, BOV has promoted the life and work of local artists who they believe deserve to be commemorated through a retrospective exhibition. So far, some 22 artists have received this honour.

Between the end of May and early July, it was Anthony Mahoney’s (b. 1935) chance to shine. As with any retrospective exhibition, this one allowed the viewer to trace Mahoney’s creative progress chronologically from 1953 until 2013, that is, 60 years of artistic production. The exhibition brought to light paintings that are in several private collections.

What emerges along the progression of the exhibition is a painter whose style can be classified as eclectic, and one whose artwork is easily likeable, and which, I am sure, appeals to a great majority.

One can also easily notice that a religious theme runs very strong throughout the exhibition, with the Crucifixion in particular being revisited on numerous occasions.

State of Mind

Also on show are landscapes, townscapes and seascapes, in which, generally speaking, there is an abundance of the use of light effects and the sfumato technique.

Also prominent is the use of movement, especially in depictions of boats at sea and caught in storms.

It is largely a collection of atmospheric paintings that are poetic and overtly romantic, and which, as one gathers on reading the essays in the exhibition catalogue, are traits that fit Mahoney’s sentimental personality.

City for all Seasons dating to 1990 displays Mahoney’s attempt at revisiting Mdina, by showing a modern take of the fortified town seen at bird’s eye view, which seems to emerge out of an incandescent bubble.

The two most noteworthy paintings in this exhibition are State of Mind and Hour of Three, both dating to 1979. The first is a portrait view from a balcony which opens up to a narrow street with tall buildings with several balconies and outdoor staircases.

The palette is largely composed of earth tones, with hints of light interspersed to give an adequate airiness to the centre of the composition, thanks to which the narrowness of the middle ground opens up to the sky.

It moreover has a beautiful use of block colours and of a combination of a sleek application of paint contrasting with a light application of impasto.

Hour of Three is the most intriguing of all, with a religious scene masked in an open, albeit gloomy, landscape. The central aspect of the composition is an off-centre crevice in the patchwork-type of land, which adduces to a crucified Christ.

It is perhaps high time that BOV considers a woman artist for its next retrospective

The barbed wire running across the upper section of the painting further alludes to the Crucifixion by symbolising the crown of thorns. Moreover, the stark bell-tower displays the time which is again significant to Christ’s crucifixion.

These two 1979 paintings are significant in his artistic evolution and distinguish themselves from the rest of his oeuvre, as can be gleaned from this retrospective. They also indicate that Mahoney was at that point in time in an interesting phase of his career. In fact, in 1976, Mahoney was offered a four-year travelling scholarship in Italy by the Italian embassy, which he, however, did not take up.

The above qualities, including a good command of the oil medium, are commendable. They are, however, not qualities that art historians would associate with great or revolutionary modern, 20th-century artists, even if on our tiny island.

A full catalogue was published to accompany the exhibition, with a generous supply of information on the artist and his artistic career, but the curating of the exhibition could have been done with a more acute eye for detail.

It is true that the exhibition-going public in Malta looks forward to the BOV retrospective exhibition, and I myself wonder who the next artist will be. It is perhaps high time that BOV considers a woman artist for its next retrospective, since they have been sidelined for so long.

John Cassar White, chairman of Bank of Valletta, who wrote the foreword to the catalogue, also recently published an opinion piece in Times of Malta titled ‘Women breaking the glass ceiling’. I wonder why BOV has not yet showcased the work of a woman artist, especially considering that the chairman himself is aware of women’s struggles in the professional world, even in 2014.

It might sound a bit clichéd, being a woman myself. But I know that I am not the only one thinking along these lines.