Pasmore’s presence on the island served as a stimulus to the Maltese artistic community. His teachings were experienced at first hand by many a Maltese artist who studied in England in the late 1950s up to the mid-1960s. Some without even knowing him or ever meeting him, embraced his artistic philosophy. Pasmore’s art was such a universal language that it was adopted as the art of the times, particularly when Malta was emerging as an independent nation full of promise facing a bright economic and prosperous future. His presence on the island and his exhibitions sealed and confirmed the importance of seeing with one’s mind what cannot be seen with our eyes, perceiving the intangible and the exploration of the unknown in art.
He attended exhibitions by Maltese artists, but also had some significant exhibitions himself. His 1970 exhibition at the Malta Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, and later at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta in 1975, (just to mention a few), entitled ‘The Image in Search of Itself’, remain important landmarks in his career. This study focuses on Pasmore’s presence on the island and the impact he had on Maltese artists, some of whom were to become his close friends. Pasmore’s private collection of art produced by Maltese artists is also discussed. Aspects of this research findings were presented in a public lecture held at the Victor Pasmore Gallery, Valletta on 11th July, 2017.
