Dr Joseph Vancell

Apap was a leading Maltese artist active during and around the mid-20th century. Apap was born in 1918 and studied painting in Rome at the Regia Accademia di Belle Arti, where his master was the Neapolitan artist Carlo Siviero. At the outbreak of World War II, he surrendered his British passport in return for a residence and work permit in Italy. Arrested after the capitulation of Italy in 1945, he was brought to Malta and tried for high treason, together with around twenty-five other Maltese, but was acquitted. His release was followed by a period of intense activity during which he established himself as Malta's leading portrait artist. In 1955 he transferred himself permanently to Rome, where in June 1964 he organized a one-man exhibition at the Galleria L'Agostiniana in Piazza del Popolo, which won him very favourable comments. In 1961 he was invited to Windsor Castle to paint a portrait of Princess Anne (exh. 1962; London, Grabowski Gal.). In 1967 he had another successful show, at the Galleria Galeazzo in Alba. His work had by this time become profoundly religious in content, and the bright colours of his earlier paintings gave way to gloomy mauves and grey tones.

Van Gogh is now one of the most well-known post-Impressionist painters, although he was not widely appreciated in his lifetime.

Vincent Van Gogh was born on 30 March 1853 in Zundert in the southern Netherlands, the son of a pastor. In 1869 he took his first job, working in the Hague branch of an international art dealing firm. He began to write to his younger brother Theo, a correspondence which continued for the rest of Van Gogh's life.

Van Gogh's job took him to London and Paris, but he was not interested in the work and was dismissed in 1876. He briefly became a teacher in England, and then, deeply interested in Christianity, a preacher in a mining community in southern Belgium.

In 1880, at the age of 27, he decided to become an artist. He moved around, teaching himself to draw and paint and receiving financial support from Theo. In 1886 Van Gogh joined Theo in Paris, and met many artists including Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Pissarro and Gauguin, with whom he became friends. His style changed significantly under the influence of Impressionism, becoming lighter and brighter. He painted a large number of self-portraits in this period.

In 1888, Van Gogh moved to Provence in southern France, where he painted his famous series 'Sunflowers'. He invited Gauguin to join him but they soon began to quarrel and one night, Van Gogh threatened Gauguin with a razor. Deeply remorseful he then cut off part of his own ear.

This was the first serious sign of the mental health problems that were to afflict Van Gogh for the rest of his life. He spent time in psychiatric hospitals and swung between periods of inertia, depression and incredibly concentrated artistic activity, his work reflecting the intense colours and strong light of the countryside around him.

On 27 July 1890, again suffering from depression, Van Gogh shot himself. He died two days later.

From: BBC Historic Figures: Vincent Van Gogh

It is widely acknowledged that Picasso is the most important artist of the 20th century. He experimented with a wide range of styles and themes in his long career, most notably inspiring 'Cubism'.

He was born in Malaga on 25 October 1881, the son of an art teacher. He later adopted his mother's maiden name of Picasso. He grew up in Barcelona, showing artistic talent at an early age. In the early 1900s, he moved between France and Spain before finally settling in Paris in 1904. There he experimented with a number of styles and produced his own original ones, reflected in his 'Blue' and 'Rose' periods.

In 1907 Picasso painted 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon', a revolutionary work that introduced a major new style - 'Cubism'. Picasso worked closely with the French artist Georges Braque in the development of this style. Picasso's next major innovation, in 1912, was 'Collage', attaching pieces of cloth, newspaper or advertising to his paintings.

Picasso now moved from style to style, experimenting with painting and sculpture and becoming involved with the Surrealist movement. In 1937 he produced 'Guernica', a painting inspired by the destruction of the town in northern Spain by German bombers during the Spanish Civil War. Picasso supported the Republican government fighting General Francisco Franco, and never returned to Spain after Franco's victory.

Unlike many artists, Picasso remained in Paris during the German occupation. From 1946 to his death he lived mainly in the south of France. He continued to produce a huge variety of work including paintings, sculptures, etchings and ceramics.

Picasso was involved with a number of women during his life who were often artistic muses as well as lovers. He had four children. On 8 April 1973, he died of a heart attack at his home near Cannes.

From http: //www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/picasso_pablo.shtml