Parliament established the National School of Art in the 1920s. During the reconstruction period that followed the Second World War, the emergence of the "Modern Art Group", whose members included Josef Kalleya (1898–1998), George Preca (1909–1984), Anton Inglott (1915–1945), Emvin Cremona (1919–1986), Frank Portelli (1922-2004), Antoine Camilleri (1922-2005) and Esprit Barthet (1919–1999) greatly enhanced the local art scene.
