Exuberance vs restraint

When a father decided to resume his study of art in order to actively support his daughter's newly-found interest in painting, little did he know that one day, their works would be sharing exhibition space in a joint event at one of Malta's most exclusive art galleries.

Albert Caruana and Doranne Alden are currently showing a cross-section of their paintings beneath a title that says Sensitivity vs Passion. One would be inclined to assume that the sensitivity refers to the works of Mr Caruana while the passion emanates from the works of Ms Alden.

A walk around the exhibits - 125 of his and 56 of hers - leaves these categorisations firmly at the door. Is passion simply conjured up by a strident colour? Is sensitivity merely a delicate hue?

To all intents and purposes these diametrically different personalities come through firmly and yet there are common strains of colour and shared ideas - a common vein.

My Dad is one of Ms Alden's most poignantly moving watercolours. Yet it is totally unlike the rest of her works and if it weren't for the title, one might be tempted to think it was a Caruana self-portrait. Ms Alden admits she has always loved watercolours. Yet, here, the colours are her father's, the technique is his, but the poignancy must and can only be hers. "It was a cold day in Germany and we had just been painting. My father sat down to rest and enjoy the scenery."

That explains why the colours are so different from her usual dramatic and undisputed excitement. Yet, the colours are probably also contributing to bring forth her own image of "dad" and reflecting the tone of a moment rather than merely hinting at Nordic weather and light.

More typical of Ms Alden is a set of still life paintings showing apples. Both painted earlier this year, they are exquisitely different in composition and technique. Apples for Barbara harks back to Ms Alden's own background in graphic design and verge on the quasi-abstract, while Apples Painting is attempting to emulate post- impressionism.

Ms Alden's favourite theme is certainly seascapes. Yet it is also Mr Caruana's. Two storms brewing, one by him and one by her, emulate a clash of titans and a subdued resignation. In Ms Alden's case it is the colours that speak out for her, clashing and clanging even in a relaxed moment and space as in Nothing Like a Good Read. Her blues are the most striking ever.

With Mr Caruana, everything is subdued. Even in a dramatic moment such as that shown in Menqa, wherein the artist re-evokes memories of a bad storm way back during his days in Gozo, the colours are elegant, contained, restrained and it is only the central pull and thug of the fishermen that make a difference.

The selection available from Mr Caruana's oeuvre is understandably larger, thanks also to the wise foresight of curator E.V. Borg. Mr Caruana's is also a far wider range of exhibits, harking back to his time as art student with Anton Inglott. A handful of oils depict still life compositions. They are his first works, executed in 1945 at the age 13 or 14. "These were made under Inglott's guidance, just one year before he died aged 30. His influence is totally present and I can still recall his words of advice when I voiced a difficulty on how to show 'strange' colours such as those of a metal flask."

Mr Caruana moved on to create what seem like impromptu sketches of passers-by that today, with hindsight, seem to document an age and a time long lost. These were actually lifted from candid shots taken without people knowing and which have, in their entirety, produced a collection that shows eye-catching characters, their clothes, their habits, their way of walking, their way of laughing. Nobody got away with it. Not if Mr Caruana noticed them. He clinched a wave of popularity at the end of the 1970s with a series of pen and ink drawings depicting rural farmhouses and trades, moving on to a celebrated calendar that showed the churches of Malta. Something of each of these phases is there on show, proof of an artistic development that has virtually touched upon everything short of the female nude.

This joint exhibition contains something for everyone. And on re-thinking the title, two different words come to mind: Exuberance vs Restraint - I would have called it that...

• Sensitivity vs Passion is at Gallery G in Lija until October 2. Opening hours: Monday to Friday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday: 9.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.