Vincent Apap (1909-2003) is one of the great Maltese artists of the 20th century, and his brilliant grasp of its academic principles coupled with an uncanny technical dexterity and artistic genius conditioned the Malta art scene for many decades.
He was the well-deserving heir of Antonio Sciortino, and like him excelled in public monuments that have become a pivotal point of reference of the Valletta and inner harbour urbanscape.
Some may complain that his towering influence was one of the key factors that handicapped the development of modern art, but no one denied his greatness, and the respect he enjoyed was universal.
I will go further and claim that a number of his masterpieces (and I use the word deliberately), like the Fra Diego at Ħamrun, the Dante at Floriana, and the iconic Tritons Fountain, reached the threshold of great art.
Although he did not enjoy the international repute of Sciortino, he came close to it, and secured the patronage of the British colonial and military authorities. Among others, his patrons included Lord Mountbatten of Burma for whom he produced some of the best works.
The exhibition Vincent Apap (1909-2003 Works in the National Collection at the exhibition gallery of the Ministry for Gozo, is a praiseworthy tribute to his epoch-making relevance to Maltese 20th century sculpture.
The emphasis is on portraits (bust-length), but as important, and arguable more so, are the maquettes of several of his iconic public monuments, as well as of poignant and sometimes suffered and spiritually intense works.
In a possible effort, but not necessarily successful attempt, to better contextualise Apap and his oeuvre, the exhibition also includes a collage of newspaper cuttings, which are blow up and hung on the walls in a scrabble-tile-like fashion.
The intention was to show off Apap’s reputation and celebrity to those unfamiliar with his work. Better taste in the presentation should, however, have prevailed.
Some 60 sculptures by the artist are on show. Many are being shown for the first time after their recent donation to the national collection by the Apap family.
The relevance of the exhibition is that it is the first dedicated entirely to Apap after his death in 2003. The new acquisitions, therefore, gain in importance.
The exhibition hall is divided into sections by partition walls. The portraits include those of the Royal Family and British dignitaries, but perhaps the more touching are his portraits of children, where tenderness is a prevailing element.
The production date ranges from 1923, when Apap was only 14 years old, to his mature old age. He remained active to the last.
What is constant throughout is the freshness of execution of each sculpture, evident from the very first to be viewed, Galloping Horses (Klinger Racing Trophy) of 1938, which is an important case in point.
Apap’s works range in temperament, from the joyous, as are in particular the portraits of children, to the more sombre, as is the Temptation of St Anthony. And although ‘classical’, his later works show how modern he could be, as in the bas relief of Our Lady of Lourdes with Expulsion of Adam and Eve.
This is an important exhibition, and a well-deserved tribute to one of Malta’s remarkable artists. Given its significance, it deserved a better and more informed layout.
Vincent Apap (1909-2003): Works in the National Collection is open at the Exhibitions Hall, St Francis Square, Victoria, until the end of the month.