The deeply personal in the art of Antoine Camilleri

Antoine Camilleri (1922-2005) is one of the giants of Maltese modernism, deeply involved in the three artists’ Maltese movements of the 1950s as well as the 1960s Artists Guild.

Heritage Malta is commemorating the centenary since his birth with a celebratory exhibition entitled Commemorating Antoine Camilleri (1922-2005): A Hundred Years from his Birth. A small but special selection of his works, among which some of his famous self-portraits, together with personal items, introduce the art-loving public to the life and times of this seminal pioneer of our country’s 20th-century art.

Some of the exhibits at the MUŻA exhibition.

The small retrospective, hosted in the intimate space of MUŻA’s Camerone, was officially inaugurated on Thursday, November 17. Katya Micallef, principal curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at MUŻA, conducted an inaugural speech, detailing what Antoine Camilleri was all about and the reason for his love of the colour purple.

This was followed by an online link with Joseph Paul Cassar, who lectures in the US at various institutions. He furnished the audience with endearing anecdotes about Camilleri as Cassar was one of the older artist’s greatest friends...