In her book The Secret Lives of Colour, (2016), Kassia St Clair chose to include a quote from John Ruskin's treatise "The Stones of Venice (1851-3) on the dedication page. The quote reads, "The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love colour the most." After visiting 'Eloquent Silence', I had to look up this quote once again and think back on what I had just viewed. The play of colours, the tantalising way in which each canvas speaks of a different story, mood or reaction, yet continuously and unwittingly reveals the same insightful persona that the artist Philip Chircop was.

Philip Chircop (1943-2019) had been actively planning a large solo exhibition in the weeks and months before he passed away suddenly in August 2019. After the artist's demise, his family decided to respect his wish and plan to show his works at the venue he had originally decided upon. However, the pandemic got in the way and the idea had to be shelved for quite some time.

I meet curator Roderick Camillieri who took over the delicate task of sifting through Chircop's lifelong production of hundreds of works, in order to come up with a selection that aptly pays due justice to his talent and honours his memory. "Chircop had numerous solo exhibitions and participated in just as many collectives over the years, both in Malta and abroad, so it was especially challenging and exciting to find he had been so artistically prolific that his studio contained innumerable works which had yet to be shown. The artist truly dedicated his life to his work, both as an artist and as a teacher of art. From the onset my aim for this exhibition was to present a retrospective and commemorative exhibition of Chircop's abstract works over the course of time, so as to reflect a worthy cross-section of his oeuvre."

It is interesting to learn how, after years of art training at the Lyceum and at the Malta Government School of Art under the guidance of eminent Maltese creatives such as Emvin Cremona, Antoine Camilleri and Esprit Barthet amongst others, Chircop felt he was still shackled by the constraints of realism and yearned for experimentation. This, he could happily delve into once he left the establishment teaching, and ventured out on his own, effectively becoming one of Malta's pioneers in the realm of abstraction. And it is to abstraction that this exhibition is dedicated through and through.

'Eloquent Silence' showcases 48 works ranging from the earliest black, bold and brash chalk drawings executed in the 1950s when Chircop was a young teenager, through to his final sublime works created during the last months of his life. The final painting composed in 2019 is one of exquisite delicacy and depth, and I daresay, one that reflects optimism and joie de vivre. Chircop used a lively and vibrant palette, infused with the typical curves and organic movement of which he was so fond. The inclusion  of this final work in the exhibition manages to close the chapter of Chircop's artistic accomplishment with an effective finale. The curator explains, "I respected the family's desire to showcase more recent compositions, however, considering the wealth of material I could choose from, I felt it was imperative to juxtapose his latest works against his past and mostly forgotten creations. All paintings here are being exhibited for the first time ever, and only a small handful of these have ever been published."

The collection successfully encapsulates a continuity that merges Chircop's use of colour over time, with a clear-cut beginning, an intense in-between, and a refined end, all as fluid as the paints, mixed media and forms Chircop utilised on his canvases. The softness is consistent, and underlying mellowness reigns throughout, with rare harsh lines and the occasional aggressive movement. Some phases indicate a quieter frame of mind, others indicate joyousness, and the artist's obsession with natural elements, prehistoric designs and the curvilinear are ever-present. Colours are harmoniously used without fail. Chircop adored music which was also a live component of his family life, and the paintings and the way his colours manifest often seem evocative of musicality and syncopation, punctuated with meditative interludes. The show is being accompanied by a selection of classical music based on his preferred composers, setting the mood for a better appreciation of his artistic expression.

'Eloquent Silence' speaks volumes, not just about the man who faced the easel and conducted each brushstroke, but also about the man's artistic journey over times of change, as he lived and breathed art, constantly seeking to grasp new ways of interpreting it through colour.

'Eloquent Silience ' - exhibition with retrospective elements by Philip Chircop - curated by Roderick Camilleri - MSA, Palazzo de La Salle, 219 Republic Street, Valletta until June 16, 2022. Opening days & hours: Until 14 June: Monday - Friday 08.00 - 19.00hrs; Saturday 09.00 - 13.30hrs; Sunday & Public Holidays closed. 15 & 16 June 08.00 - 12.00hrs & 16.00 - 19.00hrs.