Collectors of Maltese art and its aficionados are in for a treat early next month when the prestigious Vella Gera collection will be offered on auction. For the first time ever, an extraordinary number of paintings and studies by seminal Maltese 20th-century artist Anton Inglott (1915-1945) will be up for grabs.

Inglott belongs to a select group of Maltese 20th-century artists who died very young and whose oeuvre, although outstanding, is limited in quantity. This collection belongs to the heirs of the late Anthony and Bernadette Vella Gera née Inglott, the artist’s only daughter, who was barely four months old when the artist died on August 15, 1945.

Having an Inglott in one’s collection is a lure to the serious collector of Maltese 20th-century art. Together with maybe owning works by Frans Galea, Edward Pirotta or Joseph M. Genuis, all artists who died prematurely, owning an Inglott adds dimensionality and uniqueness to one’s collection, thus elevating it from being merely interesting to prestigious.

A general view of one of the rooms of the auction house. Photo: Gwen-Jane Agius

Maltese art lost a leading protagonist just on the eve of the birth of Maltese modernism. The monumental Death of St Joseph at Msida parish church propelled him to the forefront of Maltese 20th-century church art. It showed the direction the genre could have followed; sadly, his death at 30 years of age deprived our places of worship from more of such superlative contributions.

Inglott’s subdued palette in almost all his work radiates an otherworldly aura of sobriety, asceticism and spirituality; an introspection that is conducive to meditation, especially as regards his sacred art. One of his absolute masterpieces, The Raising of Lazarus, will surely be one of the stars of this auction. The layered narrative quality of this biblical episode via Inglott’s sensitive brush is probably unrivalled in the genre of Maltese 20th-century sacred art.

Author Alex Vella Gera reminisces about his grandfather, Anton Inglott

One of Inglott’s two grandsons, author Alex Vella Gera, has shared some of his memories, although he has never met his grandfather, who died decades before he was born.

“These paintings have been a fixture of my life, since birth; not always in our house, mostly in my grandmother’s house. Some of them came with stories. For instance, the one of my grandmother dressed all in black – Anton Inglott wanted to see how his wife would look after his funeral. I know it’s morbid. He was very sick and he had a feeling that he was going to die young. So he wanted to see how she would look mourning him.”

Portrait of Mrs Mary Inglott in Mourning by Anton Inglott. Photo: Obelisk Auctions

He continues: “Another morbid story relates to the painting of St Francis of Assisi, now at the Mdina Cathedral Museum. We have a study of that painting. According to my grandmother, he painted the face of the saint imagi­ning how he would look when dead. The facial yellowish hue relates to deathly pallor.”

Once, Vella Gera was rummaging through his grandmother’s things at her house in Sliema. She had lived in it since the first day she married Inglott; she lived to the old age of 99. “I found this ashtray with a few cigarette stubs still in it and showed it to my grandmother who exploded in a fury and shouted: ‘Leave it alone’,” he recounts.

Saint Francis of Assisi (Bozzetto) by Anton Inglott. Photo: Gwen-Jane Agius

These were the last cigarettes the artist had smoked just before he died. “We still have that ashtray; my dream would be to open a museum dedicated to my grandfather,” Vella Gera remarks. “After my father’s death last July, my dream was to start a foundation and keep the paintings together. The ashtray would have had pride of place in that museum. But this is not going to happen now.”

These paintings have been a fixture of my life, since birth; not always in our house, mostly in my grandmother’s house- Alex Vella Gera

“My grandmother was very attached to her husband. She was still basically in a relationship decades after he died. It’s only now that I can begin to understand, being 50, what her mindset was,” Vella Gera says. “For most of my life, I couldn’t understand what it was about; I could somehow fathom it intellectually, but now it has hit me hard on an emotional level too.”

The letters, which Vella Gera owns together with his brother, are very important, documenting the correspondence between the two lovebirds while Inglott was studying in Rome.

The Marriage of the Virgin by Anton Inglott. Photo: Gwen-Jane Agius

“I read all the letters in the last few months – they are quite fascinating to read. Through these, I noticed that it was my grandmother, his fiancée, who gave him some of the ideas behind the paintings and the drawings of the war refugees. When he was in Rome, he was already a very ill man, not going out much and almost bedridden,” Vella Gera concludes.

Besides work by Inglott, among which one must mention some engaging self-portraits, the Vella Gera collection boasts an important painting by Giorgio Preca, Mary Pitrè dancing (or Spanish Dancer), executed in those years just preceding the advent of Maltese modernism. One should also mention Willie Apap’s portrait of his fellow artist friend Inglott as another star of the auction.

Portrait of Anton Inglott by Willie Apap. Photo: Obelisk Auctions

According to Obelisk auctioneer Pierre Grech Pillow, those who attend the viewing days will be able to see Inglott’s actual palette and two albums of his sketch work; however, these three items will not be auctioned.

“The collection is intact. From the Vella Gera house, it travelled to Obelisk Auction Gallery; from the nails on which the paintings had previously hung, we transferred them to the hooks in our gallery,” the auctioneer remarked. “Having died young, it is very rare that works by him come up for auction, and they usually command hefty prices. So, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that collectors are able to bid on the most important of Inglott’s paintings. It will surely never happen again. We are proud that we have been entrusted with this auction.”

Mary Pitre dancing (or Spanish Dancer) by Giorgio Preca. Photo: Gwen-Jane Agius

The Albert Ganado collection of books and Melitensia

Besides the Vella Gera collection, other lots by important protagonists of Maltese 20th-century art will also be auctioned on Saturday, May 11. Works by Antoine Camilleri, Raymond Pitrè, Gabriel Caruana and Josef Kalleya, among others, will surely intrigue collectors to add to their holdings.

This auction, over eight days, includes also a day dedicated to the sale of the second part of the collection of Albert Ganado. The first part had included 146 lots of Melitensia and maps of Malta, collected over the years by the eminent pioneer in the field of cartography; this was auctioned on June 15, 2022.

Anton Inglott at his Rome lodging by Emvin Cremona. Photo: Gwen-Jane Agius

Crucifixion by Anton Inglott. Photo: Obelisk Auctions

Portrait of Mary Pitrè holding a Flower by Anton Inglott. Photo: Gwen-Jane Agius

Other entries include Maltese and European furniture, jewellery, silver, china, porcelain, religious art and old master paintings, so everyone’s fine tastes are catered for.

The viewing is at the Obelisk Auctions Gallery, Villa Drusilla, no.1, Mdina Road, Attard, from Friday, May 3 till Sunday, May 5, from 10am till 6pm as well as mornings of auction days from 9am till 1pm. Auction dates are from Monday, May 6 till Friday, May 10, starting at 4.30pm; Saturday, May 11 at 2.30pm; Monday, May 13 and Tuesday, May 14 at 4.30pm.