An art collection boasting over 2,000 pieces belonging to Polish collector Zdzislaw Bieganski will remain on the island for the Maltese to enjoy even if an adequate gallery has still to be found.
Bieganski Foundation curator Ryan Pillow said Mr Bieganski, 94, had transferred his collection to the foundation in Malta.
Some of the finer pieces in the collection will be exhibited at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta as from tomorrow, forming part of the Bieganski Art Festival, which will run for a month.
Mr Bieganski, a former engineering magnate, first hit the headlines in 2012 when he offered his collection, which took decades to put together, to be permanently exhibited in Malta after falling in love with the island.
But his plans ran aground and the previous government opted to bide time after attribution tests by foreign art scholars showed that works ostensibly by Pablo Picasso, Michelangelo, Henri Lebasque, John Constable, Chaime Soutine and Odilon Redon were not authentic.
Mr Pillow expressed disappointment at the way things were handled, adding that the foundation had yet to start discussions with the present government.
“We’re hoping this exhibition will show the government what we’re capable of doing while giving the public the opportunity to see for themselves these beautiful works of art.
We never claimed that those pieces were authentic
“We never claimed that those pieces were authentic. Mr Bieganski bought art based on whether he liked it aesthetically. We don’t want to court controversy. In fact, only authentic pieces will be available for viewing at the exhibition.”
Authentication was a costly process that took years of careful study. The conclusions, he said, were reached within a few months from photographs of the paintings having been sent abroad.
“Also, one must look at the collection in its entirety and the more we research, the more we keep unearthing new information,” he said, pointing to a Bernard Dunstan piece which, the foundation recently discovered, was worth about €8,000.
The exhibition comprises an eclectic mix of impressionist, modern and contemporary art, including an Edgar Degas sketch and paintings by Marcel Cosson, George Large, Francis Picabia and others.
Works by Ray Pitré will also be on display together with a number of pieces by other Maltese artists.
The Bieganski Art Festival, during which over 1,000 paintings will be on display, will also be commemorating 100 years from the outbreak of World War I through a set of authentic letters, journals and memorabilia from the period.
World War I paintings by soldier Gaston Pierre Galey have been loaned to the exhibition.
For a full programme of events find The Bieganski Art Festival on Facebook.