Saliba’s landscapes often feature pastel-like colours.

Richard Saliba is one of Malta’s leading landscape painters, whose lyricism has received the attention of many who follow the local art scene.

The ever-romantic scenes capture the Maltese and Gozitan countryside at its most glorious self, with barely any human intervention except for the

presence of a few buildings and churches that enhance the landscape and which are strategically placed in order to reflect the natural sunlight.

The title of his recent exhibition, The Colour of Light, construes ideas of a varying luminosity that change according to the atmospheric conditions. And, atmospheric is certainly a fitting word to describe Saliba’s current collection of paintings.

At his romantic best, with undulating hills, terraced fields, vegetation, trees and more, set within compositions with high horizons

His acute sense of light means that he is able to capture landscape scenes with a distinctive palette.

Saliba’s chromatic transitions vary from pale to dark, with several tones of the same shade featuring in the same and different works.

His paintings often feature pastel-like colours, including a distinctive coral hue, which can be sometimes bright and that have become a hallmark of his paintings, providing a distinct timbre.

Saliba is here seen at his romantic best, with undulating hills, terraced fields, vegetation, trees and more, set within compositions with high horizons.

His iridescent colours have so many hues, no doubt a result of his many years mastering the hard-edge technique, where colour played such an important role in contrasting and complementing the scene.

His harmonious compositions build on this experience and more, including his knowledge of several other media.

Saliba studied the art of drawing and painting intensely locally under Esprit Barthet, Vincent Apap and George Borg and furthered his studies abroad at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Perugia and at the Istituto Statale D’Arte, Urbino, Italy.

He inspires several of Malta’s up-and-coming artists, sharing with them his knowledge and experience. His vast oeuvre means that choosing the 30 paintings or so that make up this exhibition must have not been no easy task, but some of his pieces do stand out and are little marvels.

The variety of imagery presented is rich in itself and provides an opportunity to compare works of the same theme that Saliba revisited on several occasions, in different light conditions, seasons, and more.

The exhibition, held at the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Valletta, was a timely one and one that did not lack inspiration.