The collection of students' art works in The Malta Government School of Art

Abstract

The long essay proposes to explore the evolution of The Malta Government School of Art from its opening, in 1926, until the late 1950's, within the relevant artistic context happening in Malta during this period. Reactions of the contemporary Maltese artists, trained both at The Malta Government School of Art and in Academies abroad will be included. One of the main aims of this study is to show the importance of The Malta Government School of Art, in its own merits, and the changes, at times direct other times indirect, it brought about with it. The School of Art was responsible for a significant change in the art scene in Malta - it reached an important step concerning mi education, which every student of the School had to follow. It was a rigid but advanced teaching methodology, which helped to establish some of the best artists in Malta. A brief history of the institution of The Malta Government School of Art will help to outline the main protagonists in its opening, how and why the teachers were chosen, and their impo1iance. This study will describe the system adopted by The School of Art, that is, on what bases people were admitted; fees and hours of learning, among others. An analysis of the teaching methodology and syllabus-at The Malta Government School of Art better known as the Caruana Dingli Heritage, will follow. Robert and Edward Caruana Dingli' s artistic and technical teachings at The School of Art was thorough but generally conservative, stressing Academism, making little or no concessions to Modernism, and strictly prohibiting the life nude models.