The sculptures of Anton Agius will be the central theme of Bank of Valletta’s forthcoming retrospective exhibition, the 13th in a series of biannual exhibitions organised by BOV.

It will be opened by President Edward Fenech Adami on Friday, 27 May.

A total of 60 exhibits, consisting of sculptures in wood, stone and other media, will be on display during the exhibition, which will remain open to the public until 8 July. The curator of the exhibition is Louis P. Saliba and a fully illustrated catalogue will be published.

Anton Agius was born in Rabat in 1933. Described as “a man with a determination of steel, with an expressive sensibility and a prolific sculptor whose insistent, constant and consistent creative application is an indispensable therapy,” Anton Agius has carved a niche for himself in Maltese contemporary art.

He studied at the School of Art, Valletta (1952-53), at the Society of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce, Valletta (1953-57) and in Rome between 1957 and 1958. There he studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti, the Scuola del Nudo and frequented the Scuola delle Arti Ornamentali (Intaglio in Legno). He was at St Martin’s School of Art in London between 1958 and 1961.

There is hardly a town or village in the Maltese Islands that does not have a monument or bust by Anton Agius, in remembrance of the local patriot, philanthropist, politician, man of letters or artist. Former President Dr Ugo Mifsud Bonnici called him “The National Sculptor”, adding that Malta could be justly proud of such monuments as the Sette Giugno 1919 and Dun Mikiel Xerri u Shabu. Indeed, most of Malta’s sculpture commemorating milestones in its history and the people who shaped its destiny is his.

But Anton Agius is much more. His work has embraced a variety of techniques and genres. The artistic kernel of this creativity lies in his wonderful wood carvings, but he has also been a designer of postage stamps and medallions, an interior church designer and decorator and a ceramist. He has finished busts of the seven past Presidents of Malta and has held many exhibitions of his drawings and bronze statuettes.