Paintings by a number of well-known local artists enrich a calendar by one of Malta’s major banks.

Bank of Valletta has, over the years, collected a vast selection of contemporary and modern works by established and upcoming local artists. Through its 2020 calendar, it is paying tribute to some of the prominent ones in this collection, namely Frank Portelli, George Fenech, Anthony Calleja, Emvin Cremona, Victor Pasmore, Alfred Chircop, Harry Alden, Richard England, Raymond Pitré, Pawl Carbonaro Antoine Camilleri and Marco Cremona.

Titled Lwien, the calendar captures these artists’ various styles and techniques, ranging from abstract to landscapes to the other natural elements like the sun and the sea. But, above all, and as the Maltese title suggests, they are mostly colourful.

Grigio Rosso II%2C Pawl Carbonaro

Girl Reading in Garden%2C Raymond Pitré

Untitled%2C Alfred Chircop

Bastion with Vedette%2C Emvin Cremona

Print Version A of Images on the Wall%2C Victor Pasmore

A Secluded Għorfa%2C George Fenech

Tawny Branches%2C Harry Alden

Nadur%2C Richard England

Pre-Election%2C Frank Portelli

There is Portelli’s (1922-2004) abstract 1998 work Pre-Election 1981, Cremona’s (1919-1987) dark and sombre Bastion with Vedette (1963), an untitled painting by Alfred Chircop (1933-2015) and Pasmore’s (1908-1998) graphic Print Eversion A of Images on the Wall (1991/2 Series).

Among the paintings by living artists are Calleja’s figurative Walks of Life (undated), Richard England’s sketch of Nadur (1995), Pitré’s pensive Girl Reading in Garden (1970s) and Carbonaro’s abstract work Grigio Rosso II (1984).

Some of these works have never been displayed in public.

The calendar’s front cover is dedicated to Esprit Barthet whose birth centenary was celebrated last year. The oil on canvas painting titled Rooftops is representative of the artist’s latter works, from the late 1950s until his death in 1999.