Eclecticism and the Baroque Revival in the Decorative Arts in Malta
Mark Sagona
Saturday 16 November 2024 │ 11:00
The title of this public lecture is shared with that of the latest volume in the Studies in Central Mediterranean Decorative Arts scholarly series (Mark Sagona, Anthony Gatt, Tessa Murdoch and Roderick O’Donnell), published by Midsea Books in collaboration with the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Malta (2024). The lecture focuses on one of the most remarkably rich episodes in the extraordinary and profuse story of the decorative arts in Malta: the years straddling the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and discusses the prevalence of Eclecticism and Baroque Revival currents during the height of British colonial domination. It celebrates the island’s most gifted native designer of the fin-de-siècle, Abramo Gatt (1863-1944), on the eightieth anniversary of his death. There were several Maltese designers who reflected the European predilection for such design solutions, but the oeuvre of Gatt is surely the most emblematic of this fascinating era, and it brilliantly captures the design mood of the epoch, especially in the context of the ecclesiastical decorative arts.
Mark Sagona, Ph.D., is Head of the Department of Art and Art History, Faculty of Arts, University of Malta, where he lectures in Art History and Fine Arts. His research has focused primarily on the nineteenth century, with a particular interest in the Decorative Arts in Malta within their international context. Sagona has researched, lectured and published widely on the subject, including in several editions of The Journal of the Decorative Arts Society of London (2015, 2021), Revivals (ICOM-ICDAD, 2022) and more recently in Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide (NCAW, 2024). His latest publications include Eclecticism and the Baroque Revival in the Decorative Arts in Malta (with Anthony Gatt, Tessa Murdoch, Roderick O’Donnell, Midsea Books, 2024), International Perspectives on the Decorative Arts: Nineteenth-century Malta (as editor, Midsea Books, 2021), and Identity of an Island –Gozo: Art between past and present (as editor, Teatru Astra and Midsea Books, 2022). He has also participated in international conferences convened by the Universita’ degli Studi di Napoli Federico II (2021), the Universita’ degli Studi di Palermo (2023) and the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Decorative Arts and Design (ICDAD) in Lisbon (2023). Mark Sagona is also a practising visual artist and curator.
Pawlu Mizzi (1929-2019)
A Maltese patriot, Gozitan scholar, trailblazer in the modern interpretation of Gozo’s history, and pioneer in the publication of Maltese books, Pawlu Mizzi was born in Victoria on the 28th of October 1929. Mizzi’s long career spanned roles from teacher to scriptwriter and presenter of TV programmes on Gozo, eventually becoming managing director of Il-Ħajja. He also founded and served as general editor of Heritage, an encyclopaedia of Maltese heritage, culture, and civilisation. However, Mizzi is perhaps best remembered for founding, in 1970, Klabb Kotba Maltin, the home of Maltese books, and later Midsea Books Ltd. Mizzi was awarded the Medal for Service to the Republic in 1992. He passed away on the 5th of August 2019.
