Towards an Innovative and Modern Sensibility in Art in Gozo 1900-1970

Dates

Saturday, 12 November 2016, 08:45

Venue

Teatru Astra

Price

€5.00

A close and informed scrutiny of art in places of worship in Gozo between 1900 and 1970 indicates a subtle awakening to an innovative and modern sensibility. Among the more conservative nature of the art of Giuseppe Calì (1846-1930) and Lazzaro Pisani (1854-1932), and that of Cali's son Ramiro Raffaele (1881-1945), a handful of young, emerging Maltese artists who had studied abroad, were commissioned to produce a number of works. The paintings of Gianni Vella (1885-1977), Robert Caruana Dingli (1882-1940), Giuseppe Briffa (1901-1987) and most formidably, those of Emvin Cremona (1919-1987) speak a language which starts opening to new ideas and breaks away with tradition. Collectively, their works are informed by different doses of influence coming from the Pre-Raphaelites, Art Nouveau and Italian Liberty, Impressionism, to Cremona's own stylised and abstracted manner.

This on-site lecture, led by Dr Mark Sagona, visiting lecturer in the Department of History of Art, Faculty of Arts at the University of Malta, will highlight these changing attitudes and a trend which had picked up considerable momentum, only to be sadly extinguished in the 1970s. Participants will have the opportunity to interact and ask questions.