Tranquil Equilibrium

- the father, the son and the spirit of Art -

Art lovers who are familiar with landscapes painted by George Fenech could easily discern a certain affinity between George and Gilbert. It is not merely a blood bondage of father and son. From an early age, Gilbert often accompanied his father on his painting sprees. These sojourns seem to have left an indelible effect on the son. Like his father, Gilbert has savoured the mystique of the virgin land. His oeuvre attests to a similar interaction with Mother Nature. He has followed his father’s poetic treatment to the point of adulation, and the current exhibition is evident once again, of Gilbert’s close thematic and stylistic proximity.

The father

George Fenech is an established veteran artist who has dedicated his life completely to art. Well into his eighties, he can look back with gratitude, pride and satisfaction in his heart. Although he has confined his inspiration to the environs of Mellieħa, within that limit his oeuvre is rich, varied and noteworthy. He has managed to bridge tradition with modernity, to intelligently merge the order, structure and solidity of traditional forms with the pictorial freedom, spontaneity, individual perception and chromatic freshness of contemporary art. His is a distinctive style in which harmony prevails, simple, ordinary forms are balanced and colours orchestrated to create a serene, unified, lyrical grandeur.

George is a plein air artist by natural inclination and definitely he has emerged as the interpreter of a rural contemporary Malta which is fast disappearing. Yet his artistic production has not been limited solely to the interpretation of his natural environment. He has tried his hand successfully at various genres of art. The current exhibition has been limited to retrospective examples from his treatment of figurative art.

George Fenech approaches his subjects with the same explorative eye as he displays in his landscapes. There is the same regard for volume, solidity, vigorous structural qualities, spacial relationships, contrapposti, rich vibrant patterns and chromatic and textural contrasts. A psychological concern permeates all. A self-portrait of 1962, a painting of his wife, Doris (1965) as well as that entitled Pawlu (1954) are studies in powerful simplification. Direct eye contact with the spectator may have been intentionally avoided and sitters are presented in an unassuming pensive mood. Typical of George Fenech, his sitters do not hail from the high echelons of society. Philip Reading (1957) and Jane Sipping Coffee (1964) are again ordinary characters presented in a natural, relaxing pose as if caught stealthily and unawares by the artist during a common everyday chore. Members of his family feature in his paintings, very often presented in a most unsophisticated way. Conrad in a Box (1975) and Gilbert (1979) are typical charming examples. These sketchy executions could be considered as reminiscences of cherished, intimate moments painted with a paternal love but also with the same concern of the explorative artist.

Two seated nudes in this exhibition hail from his study years at the Reggia Accademia di Belle Arti and at the Associazione Artistica Internazionale (Circolo Artistico), Rome, which included the nudo in its curriculum. Both paintings attest to Fenech’s concern with the relationship between form and space as well as with textural quality. However, the one entitled Antoinetta (1959) is more liberally executed and already displays a marked freedom from a certain academism still noticeable in Maria near the Stuffa (1957).

George Fenech’s oeuvre includes also some sporadic sacred themes inspired mainly by evangelical narratives. His large Deposition has been aptly described by Prof J.J. Cremona as “a moving pictorial elegy.” It has contributed significantly to a fresh contemporary approach to modern Maltese sacred art. This particular genre is currently represented by two paintings. St Paul and St Luke (2005) is executed in a most unconventional way in a local setting so typical of Fenech’s conception. A vivid palette and the inclusion of contemporary dress create an aura of warm assosiation. St Francis and Friends (1992) is an earlier work painted in a similar pictorial idiom of vertical stresses and warm chromatic tones.

It has often been hinted that the human figure rarely features in George Fenech’s landscapes as if the artist is adamnant to let any one to tread in the sacred domain of Nature. On the other hand, George has paralleled another genre of his art in which he gave a similar glorified treatment to rural characters who inhabit his environs. Joe the Gardener (1966) is a typical character who has captured the artist’s attention on various occasions. Fenech paints him with an economical brushwork, yet with rich textural qualities, bringing out his unassuming dignity as a genuine character who has experienced the hardships of an outdoor life. Other characters are treated collectively as representatives of various social groups. With the exception of Works Ahead (1990) which hints at a subtle satirical comment, the other paintings in this genre present “toil people” at their daily chores or else exhilarating in a folkloristic pastime.

Besides the usual concern for form, colour and structure, George Fenech seems to perceive and acknowledge these humble, dedicated workers as the preservers of our traditions, the epitomes of a hardworking, persevering people with a natural attachment to their environment. Sunset (1968) and Ġbid il-Luzzu (1987) are variations of the same theme with special emphasis on rhythmic forces. Sunrise (1968) is intelligently composed with opposite yet complementary dynamic forces. Sundown (1971) has an elegant, andulating and dignified rhythmic pattern. Silhouetted figures of toiling fishermen are slightly highlighted by a very expressive sun. Bell Ringers (1995) presents another aspect of communal life, showing the artist’s keen sense of observation and his natural instinct for composition.

Finally, I would like to refer to the concluding paragraph of my analysis for another exhibition by the same artist held in the same venue way back in 2004. George Fenech’s art “is a fusion of good draughtsmanship and artistic creativity, a technical competence and a liberal, distinctive style. Above all, his paintings breathe ‘a sense of life’. ‘I put my soul in my paintings… A painting without a soul or life is no art,’ declares George Fenech. As a result, his art is valid for all times. And like all great and genuine art, it is destined to endure.”

The son

Definitely Gilbert Fenech’s 13 landscapes and 6 still lifes in the current exhibition mark a developmental progression in production since his last exhibition in this venue three years ago. Treatment has become freer, the palette luminous and better orchestrated, the composition more arresting since linear and aerial perspective are used to advantage with spaces of restful neutrals in-between. The overall general effect has become more lyrical. Yet, the father’s influence on his son cannot be denied and is still very evident. Father and son have been sharing too long the same interactive moments with nature.

Gilbert Fenech is also an open-air artist. His eyes and mind and heart meander along the open spaces, the country lanes and the deep valleys of the environs of Mellieħa to discover the beauty of form and colour. He seems to be enchanted by the majesty of primordial cliffs, the undulating skyline, the various shades of greenery which provide excellent complementaries to the rusty browns of newly-ploughed fields. He has developed a keen eye for the right approach to his subjects. Kamra fi Rdum il-Qawwi, Razzett fil-Miżieb u Rdumijiet are viewed from a high vantage point, giving the opportunity to the artist to have a soaring gaze and to be able to create a contrast between the flat rectangular shapes of farmhouses’ roofs and the irregular ones of hills and deep valleys. Others like the one entitled Trejqa lejn il-Palazz are captured from a lower point of view, thus letting the winding path lead the eye to the red tower in the background. A raised horizon joins another shade of sky blue to provide an ideal backdrop. Cloudy skies are another personal characteristic which features in Gilbert’s landscapes. Għad-dell tas-Siġar presents a frontal interesting composition while Agħżel Trieqtek may be the only landscape among the lot with a hidden expressive message.

Similar to his father, Nature perceived in its grand, poetic simplicity lies at the base of Gilbert’s art. He has learnt to waive elaboration, to synthesise his pictures to their bare essentials, rendering them into patches of harmonies or contrasting colours with breathing spaces. His limited modelling with colour to the extent of adopting the quasi-flat colour patch in certain instances is clearly indicative once again of Gilbert’s effort to unshackle himself of all past influences and to create his own particular artistic idiom. Light is another essential, unifying factor which saturates all, creating luminosity, changing tonalities and providing the sharp or soft shadows.

Gilbert’s paintings are not intended to be visual documents although the topography is easily recognizeable. Rather, they capture the fleeting, magical moments of happiness, periodic emotions of serenity and tranquility.

The still life is another form of art which provides a source of inspiration to Gilbert Fenech. Obviously, once again he is indebted to his father to the extent of making use of arrangements of similar motifs – utensils, bygones, shells, fishing tackle. Il-Bebbuxu tal-Baħar, Il-Kenur and Il-Mitħna tal-Kafè are competently composed with the same love for simplicity and purity of form and colour.

A marked distinctiveness is noticeable in other still life compositions, noteably the ones entitled Reflections and Il-Kitarra. These paintings mirror the artist’s concern for space, for exploring the relationship of objects and their respective influence on local colour as well as the effects of light and shade. Very often he takes a close-up view of the objects and arranges them in an interesting off-centre composition leaving certain sections out of the picture frame.

And the spirit of Art

The canvases on display are unpretentious pieces produced by two humble artists who work very close to nature. They do not try to imitate nature but rather to discover its mystique, to savour its monumental equilibrium, to create an empathy for the characters who have toiled the soil and tasted the salty sea. Both father and son accomplish all this with a complete dedication and a genuine love. And that is the spirit of art.

Joe Camilleri, Victoria – Gozo
November 2009