This year’s APS bank exhibition is the first of three successive showcases of families of artists. The 2014 artists are from the Camilleri and the Micallef-Grimaud families, namely Antoine Camilleri (1922-2005) and his son Antoine Paul and Aldo Micallef-Grimaud (1925-2010) and his daughter Nadine. A handsome publi-cation edited by Louis Laganà accompanies the exhibition.

The most gratifying experience was being able to view seven works by Antoine Camilleri. Particularly awe-inspiring are the two wall-hung works in clay which provide an insight into Camilleri’s psyche, studio and family.

The Artist’s Family is a portrait of himself and his wife in his underground Valletta studio, with a real photograph of his five children whose names are inscribed in the foreground. The prominent position of his wife in this work pays tribute to her nurturing role.

Several portraits of family and friends hanging in his studio, feature in the 1982 Prayer. One of the more prominently displayed next to the intense preoccupied self portrait is the portrait of his wife, Teresa. The 1954 work is entitled Bridal Moments.

The most gratifying moment was being able to view seven works by Antoine Camilleri

This painting of his wife as a bride, in fact, sharply contrasts to the sober atmosphere presented in the two later clay works. The natural cracks in the clay further contribute to the gravity of the mood expressed.

Antoine Camilleri, Prayer

A similar atmosphere and raw energy pervades Camilleri’s lino print of St Francis of Assisi, a saint who has attracted the attention of many great artists and who still mesmerises devotees.

The Artist’s Meal helps recreate his studio atmosphere in another way. Camilleri chose to preserve one of his meals by concealing the several elements with resin and treating them as objets trouvés.

Sharing the same first name with his father, Antoine Paul Camilleri has big shoes to fill. Bronze and ceramic sculptures and a very detailed and linear pen drawing of Valletta Rooftops have been selected for this exhibition.

His work is largely in keeping with his father’s depth where the religious element is also made manifest. His polychromised wall-hung 2008 ceramic – Self Portrait – is particularly remarkable.

Aldo Micallef-Grimaud’s paintings present an entirely different aesthetic to Antoine Camilleri’s. While both artists retained the figurative element in their art, one remained traditional while the other was more experimental. Micallef-Grimaud’s portraits and religious works extant in many Maltese churches. This exhibition presents both these genres as well as a still life with flowers and a landscape painting.

Particularly striking is the 1955 Self Portrait showing the artist at 30 years of age, with a determined, stern look seen in a three-quarter profile view. Thirty years later he produced Portrait of Daughter Nadine, executed with a softer pastel technique and brighter palette. It has been aptly included, since she is the artistic heir chosen for this exhibition.

Nadine’s forte is her floral arranging, in a similar vein to her sister Glorian and their late mother, Mariuccia. Indeed, one can notice the family’s love for flowers in Aldo’s Still life.

The works by Nadine selected for this exhibition are extremely diverse in style and technique, with her best work being a religious piece – the 1997 L-Aħħar Demgħa.

While acknowledging that the APS foyer is not a large space and therefore the area’s capacity is limited, the choice of works could have been more selective and better thought out. The two subsequent yearly exhibitions should bring forth the work of four other parent and son/ daughter artists, which insofar remains undisclosed.

The concept of local family artistic links has been tentatively explored in the past. In June 2008, an exhibition, titled Bloodlines , was held at Gallery G in Lija, which included many great names from the local art scene, both past and contemporary, such as the Camilleri family.

While appreciating that there is a love of art that flows between generations, the quality of art produced often varies significantly. Historically, there are many artists whose parent or offspring was a high-level artist, but how many can claim to have both been equally talented and proficient in their art?

Two Generations of Maltese Artistic Families runs until Thursday at the APS Bank Centre, Tower Street, Birkirkara.