Behind every carefully assembled art collection lies a series of personal stories and meaningful connections, as Andrea Vella Borg and Julia reveal through their most cherished pieces.
Art collections reflect not just aesthetic preferences but the relationships, experiences, and evolving perspectives of those who assemble them. Andrea Vella Borg and his wife Julia have curated a selection of works that hold particular significance in their collection, each chosen for reasons that extend beyond market value or artistic reputation. These pieces represent formative moments in their collecting journey, discoveries that shifted their understanding of art, and works that continue revealing new dimensions with repeated viewing.
Malta-based collectors Andrea Vella Borg and wife Julia have opened their home to share the stories behind their most treasured artworks. Rather than focusing on the collection’s most valuable or prestigious pieces, they’ve selected works that hold deep personal significance – pieces acquired during memorable trips, artworks by emerging artists they championed early, and acquisitions that represent pivotal moments in their development as collectors. This intimate perspective reveals how collections gain meaning through the relationships and experiences they embody, transforming from assemblages of objects into repositories of personal history.
Table of Contents
The First Acquisition: A Maltese Landscape
Every collection begins somewhere, and for Andrea Vella Borg and Julia, their first joint purchase remains particularly meaningful despite being modest by current standards. The small oil painting depicts a quiet corner of Malta’s countryside – ancient stone walls, wild vegetation, and the particular quality of Mediterranean light.
They discovered it at a local gallery shortly after deciding to start collecting seriously. The artist was relatively unknown, working outside Malta’s established art circles. What attracted them wasn’t pedigree or investment potential, but genuine response to how the painting captured something essential about their home island.
Andrea Vella Borg notes that this work established principles that continue guiding their collecting: trust personal response over received opinion, value technical skill and authentic vision, and remain open to discovering artists outside mainstream attention.
A Contemporary Mediterranean Voice
One of the collection’s centrepieces is a large abstract work by an artist from southern Italy, whose practice explores Mediterranean identity through colour and gesture. Andrea Vella Borg and his wife encountered this artist’s work at a group exhibition in Rome, immediately recognising something distinctive in the approach.
The Story Behind the Acquisition
They visited the artist’s studio outside Naples, spending an afternoon discussing influences, process, and the challenges of working outside major art centres. This direct engagement deepened their appreciation considerably. The work they eventually acquired wasn’t the most immediately striking but revealed more with extended viewing.
Julia particularly values how this piece anchors their living space whilst never becoming background. The interplay of ochres, blues, and terracottas shifts depending on light and time of day. After several years of daily viewing, they continue discovering new relationships between colours and forms.
An Unexpected Find: Market Discovery
Not all meaningful acquisitions happen through galleries or careful planning. Andrea Vella Borg recounts finding a small ceramic sculpture at an antiques market during a weekend trip. The piece isn’t particularly valuable or by a notable artist, but its form and surface treatment caught their attention immediately.
They almost didn’t purchase it – their collecting focus had been paintings and works on paper, and sculpture felt outside their expertise. But something about the object’s presence proved irresistible.
This acquisition taught them to remain open to unexpected opportunities and not limit collecting too rigidly by medium. Andrea Vella Borg and Julia consider it one of their favourite pieces precisely because it emerged from instinct rather than strategy.
Andrea Vella Borg and Wife: Supporting Emerging Artists
Several works in the collection come from artists they’ve followed since early career stages. One particular piece – a series of photographs exploring urban transformation in Mediterranean cities – represents this aspect of their collecting philosophy.
Building Relationships with Artists
They first saw this photographer’s work in a group exhibition of emerging Mediterranean artists. The technical quality and conceptual clarity impressed them, but pricing remained beyond their budget at that moment. They stayed in contact with the artist, following subsequent projects and eventually commissioning a work.
This relationship approach to collecting yields multiple rewards. Andrea Vella Borg notes that understanding an artist’s broader practice enriches appreciation of individual works. It also allows them to support artists at career stages when such support matters most.
The commissioned photographs now form a sequence along their hallway, creating a subtle narrative about architectural memory and cultural change. Explaining the artist’s practice has become one of their favourite aspects of sharing their collection.
A Historical Piece: Connection to Heritage
Whilst their collecting focus is primarily contemporary, one historical work occupies a special place. A 19th-century maritime painting depicting Malta’s Grand Harbour connects them to their island’s history whilst exemplifying technical mastery that transcends its period.
Andrea Vella Borg and his wife acquired this piece from a local collector’s estate. The painting had remained in Malta since creation, passing through several generations of local families. This provenance appealed to them – a work about Malta, created in Malta, remaining in Malta.
The painting represents their commitment to supporting and preserving Malta’s artistic heritage. They’ve researched the artist thoroughly, discovering fascinating details about 19th-century artistic life on the island.
Principles That Guide Their Curation
Discussing their favourite pieces reveals consistent principles underlying their collecting choices, even as individual works vary considerably in style, medium, and origin.
What Makes Art Endure in Their Collection:
- Works that reveal new aspects with repeated viewing rather than exhausting interest quickly
- Artists whose practice demonstrates genuine vision and technical skill
- Pieces connecting to personal experiences, travels, or significant moments
- Art that creates meaningful dialogue with other works in the collection
- Acquisitions supporting artists at crucial career development stages
Living With the Collection
Andrea Vella Borg emphasises that they collect to live with art, rather than to store or display it formally. Their favourite pieces aren’t isolated on gallery-white walls but integrated into living spaces, surrounded by books, furniture, and the accumulation of daily life.
This approach means considering how works function in domestic contexts. Scale matters – pieces must suit the rooms they’ll occupy. Subject and mood matter – they want art that enriches rather than dominates their environment.
Julia notes that certain pieces have moved between rooms over the years as their understanding of the works evolves or as their living situation changes. This flexibility keeps the collection feeling dynamic rather than static.
The Joy of Shared Discovery
Perhaps what emerges most clearly from discussing their favourite works is how collecting has become a shared language for Andrea Vella Borg and Julia. They don’t always agree on every piece – some works one loves, whilst the other remains ambivalent. But these differences create productive conversations.
Their favourite pieces often represent moments of shared discovery – seeing something simultaneously click for both of them, the excitement of finding an artist whose work speaks to them both, the satisfaction of watching an artist they championed early achieve deserved recognition.
These artworks document their journey together as much as any collection documents artistic movements. Each piece carries memories of where they were, what they were thinking about, and how they’ve changed since acquisition. Andrea Vella Borg reflects that, in this sense, their collection is profoundly personal whilst engaging with broader artistic conversations.
