13.11.1909–15.02.2003
Vincent Apap
The Maltese sculptor Vincent Apap (1909–2003) studied in Valletta and in Rome under Antonio Sciortino, and from 1934 taught at the School of Art for more than thirty years. He made the Triton Fountain (1959), monuments to politicians and statues for many Maltese churches. He completed his last major work, a bust of Guido de Marco, at the age of 89.
Biography
Apap received his first commission just after returning from Rome in 1930: the monument to Fra Diego in Ħamrun. He was twenty, and after this work his name became known in Malta.
He was born in Valletta on 13 November 1909. His brothers were also involved in the arts: William was a painter, Joseph a musician. Maltese people called him Ċensu. He first attended the government central school, and from 1920 went to evening classes in modelling and drawing. In 1925 he was among the first students of the newly founded School of Art, where he studied sculpture under Antonio Micallef. In 1927 he won a scholarship to the British Academy of Arts in Rome, where his teacher was Antonio Sciortino, the best-known Maltese sculptor of the time. After his return he exhibited regularly through the 1930s at the exhibitions of the Malta Art Amateur Association. In 1934 he was appointed assistant modelling teacher at the School of Art, and in 1947 he became head of the school. He retired in 1971, but in 1978 he was called back. In 1941 he married Maria Bencini, and they had three children.
His patrons included the Lieutenant Governor of Malta, Sir Harry Luke, and Lord Mountbatten; Mountbatten’s family still owns some of his best sculptures. In the 1960s two exhibitions were held in London in which he showed his work together with his brother William; by some accounts they took place in 1960 and 1962.
His best-known works stand in Valletta: the Triton Fountain (1959), the bust of Enrico Mizzi (1964), the statue of Paul Boffa (1976) and the statue of George Borg Olivier (1990). Apap’s statues can be found in the Rotunda of Mosta, in the Church of St Augustine in Valletta, in Mdina Cathedral, in St George’s Basilica in Gozo, in the Qawra parish church, in St Helen’s Basilica in Birkirkara and in the Jesus of Nazareth parish church in Sliema. He also designed the theatre motifs in the decoration of Palazzo Carafa in Valletta. He completed the bust of Guido de Marco, his last major work, when he was 89.
His honours came from the British Crown, Italy, Malta and the Order of Malta: Officer of the Order of the British Empire (1956), knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (1963), gold medal of the Society of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce (1965), Officer of the Italian Republic (1968) and the Maltese Order of Merit (1993). Apap died on 15 February 2003 at the age of 93.
Profile notes