ARTWORKS ON LOAN
Contours No. XLVII, Signed, 1974, Acrylic on canvas, 118 x 118cm, Private Collection
Photo by Lisa Attard
Frank Portelli was a Maltese artist and educator whose practice evolved from figurative painting into abstraction, making him a key figure in the development of modern art in Malta. Alongside his artistic career, he worked as an art teacher and interior designer and was closely engaged with international movements, particularly during his time in London, where he was exposed to post-war European abstraction and Constructivism.
This work belongs to Portelli’s Contours series, developed in the early 1970s, marking a significant shift in his practice. Inspired by topographic maps and aerial views from his earlier work with the Air Ministry, he translated lines of terrain into layered, rhythmic compositions that move beyond representation. Through these works, Portelli brought together his interests in abstraction, structure, and emotional restraint, creating a precise yet evocative visual language that invites viewers to navigate between surface, landscape, and memory.
Horse, Victor Diacono, undated, unsigned, Metal, 61 x 25.5 x 25.5cm, Private Collection
Photo by Lisa Attard
Victor Diacono (1915-2009) was a Maltese sculptor, caricaturist and painter who primarily received recognition for his distinctive figurative sculptures.
Stylistically, Diacono’s sculptures convey an atmospheric and poetic dimension, which together with the organic selective concealment of figures, defines Diacono’s sculptural output.
Cairo Desert Heat (v.2-v.1), Isabelle Borg, 1992, oil and mixed media on canvas, 152 x 152 cm, Private Collection
Isabelle Borg (1959–2010) was a British-Maltese painter who studied painting at the Camberwell College of Arts in London and taught art at the University of Malta. She spent periods of her life in Ireland, Berlin and Malta, where she established the Moviment Mara Maltija (Maltese Women’s Movement).
Cairo Desert Heat (V2–V1) is a two-sided abstract painting completed during a phase of geometric and abstract exploration. It is reminiscent of a trip to Cairo she embarked on in 1991. Underneath the surface of this dual painting lies a muted male figure, believed to be a former partner. Borg’s decision to erase and obscure him adds a muted layer of tension, using art as a space of transformation, memory and emotional resolution.
Cairo Desert Heat offers an examination of Borg’s inner world, ingrained in experience – the artist left the interpretation up to viewers to determine.
[detail] Bozzetto for Triton Fountain, undated, unsigned, clay, 35 x 26 x 31cm, Private Collection.
Photo by Lisa Attard
Josef Kalleya was an influential figure throughout the history of Maltese Modern Art. His artistic journey was a long and prolific one, and a stand-alone example of a consistent and ceaseless idealistic vision.
He was co-founder of the Modern Art Circle (a.k.a. Modern Art Group and eventually Atelier ’56) an instrumental group in the promotion of Modern Art in Malta.
Homage to Charles Caruana, my beloved brother, Gabriel Caruana, 2010, signed, Paint on wood, 143 x 33 x 2.5cm, Gabriel Caruana Foundation
Photo by Lisa Attard
Gabriel Caruana (1929–2018) was a Maltese artist and educator, whose work played a central role in shaping 20th-century art in Malta. Emerging in the years following Independence in 1964, his practice contributed to wider questions of national identity through a distinctive use of bold colour, simplified forms and a playful, experimental approach to making.
A close friend of Victor Pasmore, Caruana was equally committed to art education and accessibility. He invested in and converted an 18th-century mill into a contemporary arts centre, which remains active today, and developed public installations across Malta, Austria, and Italy, reflecting his belief in art as something to be encountered within everyday life.
