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Louis Lagana: Two Generations of Maltese Artistic Families, Vol. 1 Vol. 1, APS Bank, 2014. 125 pp.

APS Bank has, in recent years, been distinguishing itself for its cultural conscience by promoting noteworthy artistic initiatives. It has organised several important musical concerts and published CDs of local composers and various books of poetry and of Melitensia value.

Its latest praiseworthy venture is a series of three lavish books that will analyse and contrast the artistic contributions of six pairs of artists related by family.

The first volume, which has just been published, contains contributions by art lecturer Louis Laganà, sociologist Valerie Visanich, and art educator Carmen Aquilina, who discuss the artistic works of Antoine Camilleri (1922–2005) and his son Antoine Paul (b. 1959) and of Aldo Micallef-Grimaud (1925–2010) and his daughter Nadine.

It is hoped that one volume a year will be published, which means the entire project will be concluded in 2016.

This book complements admirably the three annual exhibitions that show the works of the four artists at a time and which are held in the APS building at Swatar.

This is not the most accessible of places but all those who appreciate art should make the effort to visit the exhibition.

Laganà has been entrusted with the execution of this project as well as the editing of the publication as well as curating the relevant exhibitions.

The book is distinguished by excellent critical biographies of the artists and which are supported by numerous excellent reproductions that represent the artists’ best works The project, in the words of Emanuel Delia, APS bank chairman, “seeks to identify the influence that parent-artists may have on their children or, put differently, how the upcoming members of a family react to the way in which a parents presents art as a mode of self-expression, a reaction to the outer world coming from a long search of the inner self”.

The book is, therefore, a complimentary presentation of achievement and promise, the former represented by the fathers who have already achieved artistic distinction and recognition and the other by the children who seem intent to follow in their fathers’ footsteps – although in the case of Antoine Paul he has already made quite a name for himself.

In his introductory essay to the work of the four artists, Lagana proposes a psychoanalytic analysis which underlies what he considers their common major trait, “that which reflects the conscience and the true self, which serves a mirror of the soul”.

He discusses the role of the unconscious in the artistic process and shows this by analysing in depth a work of art by each artist.

In the course of his important study, Lagana discusses the points of congruence and difference between father and son/daughter, in choice of media, approach, vision, spirituality, and achievement.

Of particular interest is the section to the self-portraits of the four artists who have all tried their hands at the genre, although the parents were far more prolific. This genre became sort of obsessive for Camilleri and in it he reached exceptional heights and has left us so many haunting images of the artist in his many moods.

This book complements admirably the three annual exhibitions that show the works of the four artists at a time

Camilleri was in so many ways larger than life and I still treasure his booming laugh in reaction to the jokes he loved so much.

The four concise biographies give a very good overview of their lives and achievements, together with excellent critical insights that could serve as an introduction to anyone wanting to study them.

Camilleri had artistic ambitions from childhood, to the disappointment of his father who would have preferred to follow in the family drapery business.

Bringing up a family of five children was never an easy task on the small pay of an art teacher, a profession he had to choose because art then certainly paid much less than it does now.

The period he spent in his beloved Paris was fundamental to his development, especially his awareness of colour and light, and brought him in contact with the latest artistic he was soon to bring back to the island. A member of the Modern Art Group, he was always held in high esteem by his colleagues and much appreciated by the general public.

Lagana sums him up as “not only an iconic name in modernism in Maltese art, but also as an inspiration to the new generation of artists”.

Of his five children, it was Antoine Paul who inherited most of his father’s talent and love of art. With his father’s studio being beside the kitchen, the young Antoine Paul could follow and share the artistic experience, although he was always clear in his mind that he wanted to experiment to achieve his identity and style, not least in the choice of particular media.

Aldo Micallef-Grimaud too followed the traditional classes like his friend Camilleri did. He also found the academic genres more appealing and he was solid and well at ease in his numerous realistic portraits (indeed one of his strongest genres), still-life and scenic depictions, besides his fine religious paintings.

Still Micallef-Grimaud seemed to have been more comfortable as an observer of the vast changes that took place in the Maltese artistic scene following the setting-up of the Modern Art Circle which had a more rebellious reputation. His artistic development was rather cautious and he remained more at ease with classical realism.

Micallef-Grimaud not only married an artistic wife, Mariuccia, but all of his three children and even his four grandchildren have shown artistic promise. Nadine has shown particular versatility not only in drawing, painting, and sculpture but also in illustrations, jewellery, fashion, and make-up designs for films and photography. Like her mother, she has reached notable heights in floral art and floral design, having won numerous prizes and accolades locally and internationally.

Unlike her father, Nadine tended to be more experimental in her approach but then she was born and brought up light years away from the society that had formed the senior Micallef-Grimaud’s mindset.

The limitations imposed upon this review does not make it possible to give due importance to the two essays by Carmen Aquilina which analyse the art of the Camilleri family and Valerie Visanich’s paper, which stresses the sharp contrasting artistic elements of the Micallef-Grimaud family, as well as pointing out common features.