Four paintings by celebrated Maltese painter Willie Apap will go under the hammer at the Obelisk Auctions Gallery this weekend.

The collection belongs to the late Vincent Apap, Willie Apap’s brother. They are titled The Nativity, Ballerinas, Female Nude and Two Female Nudes and will be sold at 2pm on Saturday.

Auctioneer Pierre Grech Pillow told Times of Malta that the pre-sale estimate was between €5,000 and €8,000 per painting – but they are expected to fetch much more.

Apap’s paintings are very much in demand as it has been a while since any have been on the market.

The works form part of a 700-piece “rare and unique” antiques and fine arts collection, which includes 20th century Maltese modern art, 17th and 18th century master paintings, Maltese and European furniture, silver, ceramics, glass, clocks, bronze, a collection of oriental art including ivory, soapstone and jade, jewellery, watches including Rolex, Cartier and Omega, collectors’ items and other works.

Other artists include Gabriel Caruana, Emvin Cremona and George Fenech.

Willie Apap (1918-1970) divided his career between Malta and Rome, where he spent most of his life.

Since youth he showed a precocious artistic talent which developed more fully when in 1937 he travelled to the Italian capital to study painting under Carlo Siviero.

His interests embraced a variety of genres, though he is perhaps best known for his portraits and some of the most profoundly felt examples of sacred art ever produced by a Maltese artist.

Other works for sale at the forthcoming auction.