Antoine Camilleri (1922-2005) was one of the greatest artists of 20th-century Maltese art. Through him and other young artists with vision, modern art could be enjoyed on the Maltese islands. To honour the 10th anniversary from his demise, the Camilleri family are celebrating his life and career through a comprehensive exhibition, Observing the Life and Works of Antoine Camilleri, that occupies the two large upper and lower galleries at St James Cavalier in Valletta.
The exhibition encompasses an overwhelming 150 works by the artist that clearly demonstrate his development and mature style.
Camilleri started his formal artistic training aged 14 at the Malta Government School of Art in 1936, studying under Dwardu Zammit, Vincent Apap and Edward Caruana Dingli. However, his love for painting was demonstrated at an even younger age.
Camilleri’s early works can be easily traced in this exhibition. One of the earliest works on display in fact dates to as early as 1932 when the artist was only 10 years old.
One can clearly gauge the diversity of Camilleri’s oeuvre
Following his formal training in Malta, Camilleri proceeded to Paris in 1949 where he studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts. Several landscapes and candid portrayals of Parisian life painted en plein air, bear witness to this period of the artist’s career. Similarly executed in Paris are several drawings of life nude models that show the artist’s quality of line drawings and his early penchant for elongated figures.
Having returned to Malta, Camilleri must have desired to be part of a revolution in Maltese art. In fact in 1952 he joined the avant-garde group of artists known as the Modern Art Circle and, soon after that, in 1956 Camilleri took up the post of art teacher at the Lyceum in Valletta and then in Ħamrun.
That same year he founded Atelier ‘56 together with other like-minded artists. He went on to become one of Malta’s most prolific artists of the 20th century, receiving many honours.
The artist left Malta once again to further pursue his artist studies in 1960. This was when he won a year-long Commonwealth scholarship to Bath Academy where he became even more engrossed in drawing the life nude model.
The life classes Camilleri attended are recorded in his drawings and sketchbooks with paintings and notes by the artist from this period are also displayed at St James Cavalier.
The 150 or so works on display include paintings in various media – such as oil and watercolour – as well as drawings, lino prints, stamp and card designs and more. The display also includes succinct snapshots from the artist’s life with family photos, photos of his studio and the tools he used as well as his favourite ring.
These provide the context for the artist’s evolution and the photographs are particularly touching which include Antoine and his wife Tereza’s wedding album.
One can clearly gauge the diversity of Camilleri’s oeuvre. His output included genre scenes, portraits, landscapes as well as entries for carnival competitions (the casts of which have been recreated by Antoine Paul Camilleri), works executed with objets trouvé, collage works and his unique and memorable clay and resin works that evoke so much emotion.
Snapshots of Valletta where the artist lived do not fail to feature as well as the lively Strait Street. But what is especially touching are portraits and drawings of his family, especially of his wife Tereża, who is beautifully captured throughout her life in several poses and guises.
Also included in the exhibition are a series of religious works that have been grouped together. The piece de resistance is the series of self-portraits that hang chronologically in the last hall. This is a remarkable array of introspective reflections dating from 1945 until the end of the artist’s life. The deep gazes and rough rendition of the self in the dozens of self-portraits on display are evocations of several moods and states of mind.
The earliest of these self-portraits is a freshly-executed oil on canvas painting that dates to 1945 and which was executed when Camilleri served in the army.
Other touching self-portraits include the artist in the nude, such as After Surgery (1983) and After the By-Pass (1996), portraying as the names suggest the artist after he underwent surgery.
He depicted himself as a resurrected Christ, displaying the stigmata as wel as the surgical knife with which he was operated upon, giving him a second chance at life. Others include My life – My work (2000) executed with clay and resin on wood and a collage of pictures and photocopies portraying images of his works and work-related activities.
It must have been no easy feat to amass together all these exhibits from several collections, but it was certainly worthwhile. It is only on rare occasions such as these that one can fully comprehend how great an artist Camilleri was and to be surrounded by his creations under one roof.
Through this exhibition, Camilleri’s art can be shared with those who admired the artist and his work and it can also serve as a great introduction and everlasting memory to those who have not yet experienced this master’s creations. In this way, the artist’s works and his achievements have been resurrected.
The main curator, Joseph Paul Cassar, co-curator Hilary Spiteri and the Camilleri family will also be holding a series of events and workshops relating to the artist in St James Cavalier’s Spazju Kreattiv, which are open to the public.
Observing the Life and Works of Antoine Camilleri runs until November 23 at St James Cavalier, Valletta.