Regional artists display paintings in “Vangjush Mio”

TIRANA, Nov. 2 – More than 50 paintings created by Albanian and regional artists have been put on display at the cultural centre in the southeastern town of Korca named after Vangjush Mio, one of Albania’s greatest painters.
The exhibition which opened last weekend, features works created by 45 painters as part of the Mio Days event organized by the Municipality of Korca.
“My father dedicated his life to art. He worked for 40 years; he was a walking painter. He painted his country from its Southern part, Himara, to Ulcinj. But his greatest love was for his home city, Korca,” said Rozeta Mio, the painter’s daughter.
According to other painters from Korca, Mio remains a source of inspiration and he is unreachable in his art. “Mio came in this complex world with a special purity, which starts with light, the symbol of his paintings. It is an inspiration, which paved the path not only for young artists, but even for other painters. Mio stimulated them to walk in this path full of light, which came from his inner spiritual world,” said painter Koco Ristani.
Nude paintings were also part of Mio’s creativity during the painter’s school years in Italy. Vangjush Mio opened his first exhibition in Tirana in 1920, while he was a student. His last exhibition was also opened in Tirana, in 1983. It included 200 paintings, which were nearly all bought by the archive of the Gallery of Arts in Tirana.
The gifted impressionist artist Vangjush Mio (1891-1957) had a remarkable painting career encompassing 40 years, producing over 400 paintings and 300 sketches. He studied art at Bucharest’s art high school in 1919 and continued to study art at Rome University before returning to Kor衠in 1924. Painting mostly Albanian landscapes and portraits, Mio also made scenes for the local theatre and was the topic of a dozen exhibitions both in Albania and abroad.