HEARD IN THE HIVE by the Bee
Two Centuries of Graphic Art at the Hilton
"TWO CENTURIES of Graphic Art", an exhibition organised by art historian Dame Françoise Tempra, which was inaugurated at the Hilton last Tuesday, will be on show every day until November 15.
The exhibition — a veritable artistic tour de force — features 147 works by 51 artists of 17 nationalities, including Goya, Matisse, Dali, De Pass and Picasso.
Fr. Marius Zerafa, former Director of Museums, explained, in a witty speech, that the "graphic forms" of etching, engraving and lithography, besides the original drawings, of course, meant the democratisation of art, when almost anyone could afford to own an important name with a graphic work signed by the artist.
Dame Françoise Tempra, in her introduction, expressed her exhilaration at the preparation of the show and at the same her sense of nostalgia on realising that some of her dearest friends, such as the great surrealist artist Salvador Dali (represented by seven works) and Frank Hill (12 works), were no longer with us, although the masterpieces they left us will live forever.
She very pleased to see that two "old friends", Edwin Galea and Raymond Pitrè, were represented at the exhibition. They had taken part, with other Maltese artists, in the "Art in Malta" exhibition she had organised in London in 1977. But there were also two of her "discoveries" — Arthur Rizzo, the cosmic pictorial adventurer, and Nikki Arnett, a direct descendant, through her father Hugh, of the great J.W. Turner (1775-1851), and whose poetical miniature seascapes, she said, cannot but meet the approval of her ancestor.
Dame Françoise said that graphics also had an investment value. A Chagall lithograph worth $350 15 years ago was recently sold for $25,000 by Christie's.
Many works at this important exhibition are on loan from private collections, but 10 per cent of the proceeds of those for sale will be donated to the Community Chest Fund.
[Caption: FR. MARIUS ZERAFA speaking at the opening of the Hilton exhibition, with the Russian Ambassador, Mrs. Valentina Matvienko, and the exhibition's organiser, Dame Françoise Tempra.]
