IMPRESSIONS Godwin Cassar
IMPRESSIONS Godwin Cassar
IMPRESSIONS by E V Borg
The essence of ‘Impressions’, a recent collection of watercolours by Godwin Cassar emanates a sense of tranquillity, serenity, peace and rest the result of a cool, observant and reflective nature. This meditative and contemplative approach exposes a placidity and unruffled nature suggesting mood, atmosphere and atmospherics by a professional and experienced architect/planner with a penchant for order, reason and restraint. His streetscapes, seascapes, landscapes, gardens and skylines capture light and shadow, shapes and forms, space, depth and distance and vibrant light in a figurative and realistic manner in a romantic and poetic inclination. ‘Godwin Cassar’s streetscapes: ‘Steps – St. John’s Street. Valletta’ (25) and ‘Venice Canal & Bridge, 4’ (14) capture the glowing light in the former and dancing light over water in the latter and surprising improvement in the use of watercolour’. This evaluation prompted by his work at the 11th National Art Exhibition at Palazzo de La Salle, Valletta, the premises of the Malta Society of Arts Manufactures and Commerce in September/October 2012 amply demonstrates the serious involvement and intensity in his approach to apply himself wholeheartedly to
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watercolour as a medium and to art as therapy. The result in less than a year is highly rewarding and has given him great satisfaction in his retirement. One of the finest watercolours is ‘Steps – St. John’s Street, Valletta’ (25) that captures the light of the sun glinting on the granite steps, with the deep pilasters of the Our Lady of Jesus church and the escutcheons on Victoria Gate caught in shadow while Grand Harbour and the Fort of St. Angelo saturated in light are veiled
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in thin haze suggesting depth in the middle distance and deep space in the background. Highly sensitive as a work, probably inspired by the same elements that struck Byron in the past but expressed in a positive and admirable manner. Being born and bred in Valletta he has concentrated
largely in depicting particular and peculiar scenes from the city. ‘Venice Canal and Bridge’ (14) is similar in suggesting depth and distance with a hazy skyline and a spire as a point of reference like a spike reaching upwards into the sky.
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Venice has so inspired the artist as it presents a grand opportunity to depict colourful scenes given the nature of its architecture and finishes. In fact a whole section is dedicated to the Serenissima – the Queen of the 15
Sea. Flooded with light not water is ‘Piazza San Marco, Venice’ (12) while panoramic as if seen through a wide-angled lens is ‘Grand Canal & St. Maria della Salute, Venice’ (15). Idyllic is ‘Venetian Gondolier’ (6) almost a silhouette set in a glowing sunset while painterly is ‘Gondolas at the Pier, Venice, 1’ (8) and moody and romantic is ‘Gondolas at the Pier, Venice, 2’ (11) with a dark turquoise hue in the foreground contrasting with a rose tint of a sinking sun turning the sky sad and morose.
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Highly atmospheric is ‘St. Maria della Salute, Venice’ (9) dominated by the extravagantly baroque domed church built by Baldassare Longhena. Delicately elegant is ‘Venice Canal & Bridge, 1’ (7), colourful is ‘Burano, Venice’ (5) and ‘Venice Canal & Bridge, 3’ (13). Impressive is ‘Venice Canal & Bridge, 3’ (10) for its mill-pond reflection and bridge in acute perspective. 5
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A section that depicts reflections is inspired by idyllic scenes in Malta: ‘Birgu Waterfront’ (30); ‘St. Julian’s Bay’ (32) with its sense of limpidity and ‘Valletta, European Capital of Culture’ (19) with the St. Paul’s Cathedral and Carmelite Church structures seen melting upside down in Marsamxett Harbour. 19
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Quite impressive depicting reflections are: ‘Marsaxlokk, fishing village’ (28) and a related work ‘Msida Creek’ (29). 28
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‘L-Isla-Birgu Panoramic Waterfront’ (31) in a diptych, is a romantic interpretation of a vast yacht-mooring shoreline or quay that resembles the Grand Canal in Venice especially that part of the Senglea shoreline that includes the ‘Maċina’ and the 45
large dock facing Cospicua. ‘Birgu Waterfront’ (30) together with ‘Landscape: View from Rabat & Siggiewi’ (45) reveal most the artist’s debt to the influence of John Martin Borg’s style.
‘Old Castle at Verrucola, Fivizzano’ (46), very picturesque and ‘Market Square, Fivizzano’ (47) plein air studies in delicate washes were actually painted during a workshop in Posara organized by Thomas Schaller while ‘Boats at the Pier’ (3) is painted in the loose style of Jerry McClish. 47 3
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‘Republic Street, Valletta’ (20) and Valetta Waterfront’ (22) capture night scenes with a dark sky in the former and flickering lights dancing on water in the latter. Almost impossible to ignore are: ‘Main Street, Balzan’ (1) and ‘French Street’ (4) for their limpidity and clinical cleanliness.
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‘Flower Kiosk, Republic Street, Valletta’ (23) is impressive with glancing shadows on walls and the ground wet and slippery with rainwater while ‘Flower Kiosk, the Palace Valletta’ (43) is highly nostalgic, sheltered under the portico of the National Library designed by the Borromini-influenced Stefano Ittar. These introduce the visitor to a section on gardens at ‘Palazzo Parisio’ (35 & 36) and ‘San Anton’ (38) These works seem more naïve in style. 43
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‘Mdina Skyline’ (2), ‘Mdina Ramparts’ (26) and ‘Villegaignon Street’ (27) with its deep perspective show facets of the old, silent city with the latter focusing on the ‘Banca Giuratel’ in a theatrical French baroque style.
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Valletta is also given its due importance as the artist depicts ‘Old Mint Street’ (17), ‘Queen’s Square’ (18) with the National Library façade, ‘Great Siege Square’ (48) and other images already mentioned.
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Other cities like ‘Delft’ (39) and ‘Lausanne’ (40) are also included in the collection. Perhaps the quaintest work and quite distinctive as unique in its genre is ‘Village Feast’ (33) a folkloristic impressionistic interpretation of a traditional ‘banda’ playing a march reflecting the influence of the British regiments in Malta. The collection is marked by delicately painted, placid and peaceful scenes that take us back to nostalgic times when local and foreign artists painted views exploiting the market the ‘tourist’ on the Grand Tour demanded either in watercolour or in hand-painted post cards. E. V. Borg 07. 07. 2013
Godwin Cassar - Bio Godwin Cassar an architect/planner by profession retired as Director General of the Malta Environment & Planning Authority in January 2009 after a 36-year career in the public service, 17 years of which heading the executive level at the Authority. Before the Authority was founded he was instrumental in setting up new structures, training staff and leading a team of around 50 professionals in drawing up the first Structure Plan for Malta. In April 1996 he was admitted as Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute (UK). In July 1998 he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University of Central England, Birmingham in recognition of his ‘distinguished services to planning’. Towards the end of his career he was actively involved with university academia in formulating the national strategy for sustainable development. On his retirement he started looking for new interests as a break from the high pressure job he had become accustomed to. He first published ‘Planning Matters’ a collection of essays and other writings on planning issues written between 1985-2008. In the summer of 2009 he followed a short course on painting & drawing under the guidance of a young artist Matthew Cassar at the Carmelite Priory in Mdina. This course included mainly still life drawing and portraits in ink and pencil. In October of the same year he joined the first year of the arts foundation course at the School of Arts which introduced him to new techniques in poster colours Soon after the successful conclusion of the first year exam at the School of Arts in May 2010 he enrolled for private tuition in watercolours under the guidance of Vincent Amos, a British resident artist who formerly lectured at the University of Leicester,
United Kingdom where he was also an Arts Director. In 2012 he participated in the 11th National Art Exhibition organised by the Malta Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. Between April and June of the current year Godwin Cassar followed an intensive workshop of 16 sessions under the guidance of leading watercolourist John Martin Borg in landscape painting. The workshop included live demonstrations and hands-on experience; appreciation of landscape types; composition; skies, depicting space, perspective; techniques in watercolour; painting buildings & trees; interpreting water and the use of photography. In June he attended a weeklong painting workshop in Posara, Italy under the guidance of Thomas Schaller a renowned American watercolourist. Schaller has long been considered one of the foremost architectural artists in the world. In the field, he has won every major award for his artwork. He is increasingly in demand internationally to conduct his watercolour workshop series: ‘The Architecture of Light’. In the meantime Godwin Cassar has not relinquished all his ties with the profession as he is still involved in a number of areas. He is currently a member of the Commission for Catholic Cultural Heritage set up by the Curia; Faculty board member of the Islands and Small States Institute University of Malta and Member of the International Scientific Advisory Committee of the Institute of Earth Systems, University of Malta.
List of Works
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Main Street, Balzan 2011, 45 x 40cm Mdina Skyline 2010, 50 x 45cm Boats at the Pier (after Jerry McClish) 2011, 50 x 45cm 4 French Street 2010, 43 x 55cm 5 Burano, Venice 2011, 50 x 62cm 6 Venetian Gondolier 2010, 53 x 49cm 7 Venice Canal & Bridge (1) 2010, 40 x 55cm 8 Gondolas at the Pier, Venice (1) 2010, 50 x 45cm 9 Sta. Maria della Salute, Venice 2013, 47 x 59cm 10 Venice Canal & Bridge (2) 2012, 57 x 46cm 11 Gondolas at the Pier, Venice (2) 2012, 57 x 49cm 12 Piazza San Marco, Venice 2012, 57 x 48cm 13 Venice Canal & Bridge (3) 2011, 47 x 61cm 14 Venice Canal & Bridge (4) 2011, 42 x 55cm 15 Grand Canal & Sta Maria della Salute, Venice 2013, 57 x 49cm 16 Traditional Balconies Re-visited, Valletta 2013, 43 x 59cm 17 Old Mint Street, Valletta 2013, 54 x 48cm 18 Queen’s Square, Valletta 2013, 54 x 48cm 19 Valletta European Capital of Culture (2018) 2012, 54 x 45cm 20 Republic Street, Valletta (evening scene) 2012, 42 x 57cm 21 Grand Harbour Entrance, Valletta 2012, 54 x 48cm 22 Valletta Waterfront 2012, 54 x 48cm 23 Flower Kiosk Republic Street, Valletta 2011, 44 x 59cm 24 Independence Square, Valletta 2011, 44 x 59cm 25 Steps, St John’s Street, Valletta 2011, 45 x 61cm 26 Mdina Ramparts 2012, 44 x 59cm 27 Villegaignon Street, Mdina 2012, 44 x 59cm 28 Marsaxlokk Fishing Village 2012, 55 x 47cm 29 Msida Creek 2012, 54 x 48cm 30 Birgu Waterfront 2012, 44 x 59cm 31 L-Isla-Birgu Panoramic View of Waterfront 2012, 94 x 48cm
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St Julian’s Bay 2012, 44 x 59cm Village Feast 2013, 54 x 45cm Mizieb Woodland l/o Mellieha 2012, 54 x 48cm Landscaped Gardens Palazzo Parisio, Naxxar (1) 2011, 45 x 59cm Landscaped Gardens, Palazzo Parisio, Naxxar (2) 2012, 45 x 59cm ’Couvre Port’ Birgu 2011, 45 x 57cm San Anton Gardens 2013, 45 x 57cm Delft 2012, 57 x 48cm Lausanne Morning Mist 2013, 57 x 48cm Archbishop Street, Valletta 2012, 54 x 48cm Old Façade 2012, 54 x 48cm Flower Kiosk – the Palace, Valletta 2012, 46 x 59cm Venice Façade 2013 (after John Lovett), 57 x 49cm Landscape: view from Rabat towards Siggiewi plein-air 2013, 53 x 49cm Old Castle at Verrucola, Fivizzano (Italy) plein-air 2013, 50 x 62cm Market Square Fivizzano (Italy) plein-air 2013, 50 x 62cm Great Siege Square, Valletta 2013, 57 x 49cm
Godwin Cassar Studio 52 St Valentine Street Balzan BZN 1504 Mob: +356 9942 1731 Tel: +356 21442651 E-mail: godwincass@gmail.com Website: http://www.godwin.artistwebsites.com
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Hilton Malta in collaboration with the Art Discussion Group (ADG) present IMPRESSIONS An Exhibition of Watercolours by Godwin Cassar at Hilton Malta, St Julians Mr Ray Fenech Mr Joseph Casapinta Sponsors: Hilton Malta Deco Manufacturing ‘Good Causes Fund’ Ministry of Finance photo credit: Mary Attard Curator: E. V. Borg Design & Layout: E. V. Borg & Mary Attard Text: E. V. Borg ©
Front cover: ‘Steps – St. John Street, Valletta (No. 24) Inside Back Cover: Acknowledgements Back Cover: Venice Canal & Bridge, 3 (No. 13) Title Page: Venice Canal & Bridge, 1 (No. 7) Printing: Best Print Co. Ltd ISBN No: 978-99957-0-563-3
‘Good Causes Fund’ Ministry of Finance
HILTON MALTA St Julians
6th Sep - 15th Nov 2013