One hears much talk about sacred art. There has been much violent debate about a notion which still remains very vague. It is well understood that it is not the subject treated by the artist that alone can assure the sacred aspect of a work. There have been so any works, or rather so many sentimental pious pictures, to prove this point, not to mention the famous “style” of St. Sulpice! In any case, one has to admit that even an authentic religious sentiment is not enough to generate true works of art. There is the eternal tension existing between the authentic artist and the decision he takes to promote a truly sacred message in the framework of his art.

In some works which are not without a certain naïvety, Joseph Mattar tries to bring alive this tension inherent in SACRED – ART. Certain pieces, The Anchorite, Vocation, Secret, Crucifixion, Deposing in the Tomb, and the various heads of Christ, bear witness to a desire, common to all those who have tried to give artistic expression to what they hold sacred, to go more directly and more intimately to the sources. Such works are understood by the public to be not simple illustrations but rather compositions which have their own plastic existence.

Georges GUERIN