NATIONAL GALLERY OF ARTS
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Founded in 1954, this national museum houses Albania's most important collection of secular works from the and centuries.
This national museum (Galeria Kombëtare e Arteve) had been closed for renovation since 2021. Work scheduled for completion in 2023 seems to have fallen behind schedule. Nevertheless, this institution, founded in 1954, boasts the richest collection of secular Albanian art from the 19th and 20th centuries. Among the oldest paintings are Motra Tone ("Our Sister", 1883), the "Albanian Mona Lisa" by Kolë Idromeno (1860-1939), and portraits by photography pioneer Pietro Marubi (1834-1903). But the new exhibition is expected to be mainly made up of works from the Communist period. We hope to find the large, quasi-surrealist canvas Vojo Kushi (1969) by Sali Shijaku (1933-2022) showing the Serbian-born national hero Vojo Kušić (1918-1942) attacking a tank with a grenade. From the formalist period of Socialist Realism (1969-1974), the painters Llambi Blido (b. 1939) and Edison Gjergo (1939-1989) are particularly noteworthy. The former adopted a minimalist graphic style with the highly successful Në pultin e komandimit ("In the control room", 1971). The latter, influenced by Chagall, verged on psychedelic art with his Vulcan-like Fondatori ("Foundry Worker", 1971). Gjergo was imprisoned in 1974 for straying too far from the party line. It's a safe bet that the conformist works of sculptor Kristaq Rama (1932-1998) and his son, painter (and Prime Minister) Edi Rama, will also be on show.
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Not to be missed in the courtyard, relegated for some under covers, some beautiful examples of the monumental and theatrical communist statutary, secluded from the museum