Zef Pashko Shoshi (born 1939) is an Albanian painter, [1] painting in socialist realism. [2] Shoshi is considered a national art treasure in Albania. [1] [3] [4]
Zef Pashko Shoshi (born 1939) is an Albanian painter, [1] painting in socialist realism. [2] Shoshi is considered a national art treasure in Albania. [1] [3] [4]
Shoshi was born in Tirana, Albania, in 1939, the son of a bank clerk and amateur painter. [1] His earliest drawings depicted ships on the horizon during a stay in Ulcinj in 1943 or 1944. [5]
Between 1957 and 1961, [1] Shoshi studied at the Ilya Repin Institution in Leningrad, Russia, [1] [2] during which time he studied under Boris Ioganson, and was a contemporary of artist Sali Shijaku and sculptor Vilson Kilica . Shoshi later graduated from the Tirana Institute of Arts. [1]
Shoshi's talent and technique was recognised in Albanian art circles. [6] His paintings reflected communist themes, such as the working class in fields and factories. [1] [7] He particularly documented life in the Zadrima region, reflecting its traditional and cultural heritage in daily life. [1] [5] His style pays particular attention to the human figure and face, lending Shoshi to be best known for his portraits. [5] In 1974, Shoshi was commissioned to paint Enver Hoxha, Albania's dictator. [1] After the fall of communism, Shoshi's works attracted the attention of international collectors, particularly in the United States. [5]
Tirana is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea in the distance. It is among the wettest and sunniest cities in Europe, with 2,544 hours of sun per year.
Socialist realism was the official cultural doctrine of the Soviet Union that mandated an idealized representation of life under socialism in literature and the visual arts. The doctrine was first proclaimed by the First Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934 as approved method for Soviet cultural production in all media. Following World War II, socialist realism was adopted by countries politically aligned with the Soviet Union. The primary official objective of socialist realism was "to depict reality in its revolutionary development" although no formal guidelines concerning style or subject matter were provided.
Edi Rama is an Albanian politician, painter, writer, former university lecturer, publicist and former basketball player, who has served as the 33rd and incumbent Prime Minister of Albania since 2013 and chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania since 2005. He was appointed Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports in 1998, an office he held until 2000. First elected mayor of Tirana in 2000, he was reelected in 2003 and 2007.
Rrok Kolë Mirdita was an Albanian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the archbishop of Tiranë-Durrës from 1993 to his death in 2015.
Albanian literature stretches back to the Middle Ages and comprises those literary texts and works written in Albanian. It may also refer to literature written by Albanians in Albania, Kosovo and the Albanian diaspora particularly in Italy. Albanian occupies an independent branch within the Indo-European family and does not have any other closely related language. The origin of Albanian is not entirely known, but it may be a successor of the ancient Illyrian language.
Kitchen sink realism is a British cultural movement that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, film and television plays, whose protagonists usually could be described as "angry young men" who were disillusioned with modern society. It used a style of social realism which depicted the domestic situations of working-class Britons, living in cramped rented accommodation and spending their off-hours drinking in grimy pubs, to explore controversial social and political issues ranging from abortion to homelessness. The harsh, realistic style contrasted sharply with the escapism of the previous generation's so-called "well-made plays".
Nikoll Idromeno, better known as Kolë Idromeno, was an Albanian painter, sculptor, architect, photographer, cinematographer, composer and engineer during the Albanian Renaissance in the nineteenth century. He is widely regarded as a precursor of both realism and landscape art in Albania.
Dritëro Agolli was an Albanian poet, writer and politician. He studied in Leningrad in the Soviet Union, and wrote primarily poetry, but also short stories, essays, plays, and novels. He was head of the League of Writers and Artists of Albania from 1973 until 1992. He was a leading figure in the Albanian Communist nomenklatura.
Albanian art refers to all artistic expressions and artworks in Albania or produced by Albanians. The country's art is either work of arts produced by its people and influenced by its culture and traditions. It has preserved its original elements and traditions despite its long and eventful history around the time when Albania was populated to Illyrians and Ancient Greeks and subsequently conquered by Romans, Byzantines, Venetians and Ottomans.
Isaak Izrailevich Brodsky was a Soviet painter whose work provided a blueprint for the art movement of socialist realism. He is known for his iconic portrayals of Lenin and idealized, carefully crafted paintings dedicated to the events of the Russian Civil War and Bolshevik Revolution.
Qemal Stafa was a founding member of the Albanian Communist Party, and the leader of its youth section.
Agim Zajmi was an Albanian painter. For his contribution to painting, he received the People's Artist of Albania medal.
The League of Writers and Artists of Albania is a non-profit organization founded with the goal of promoting and advancing the literary and artistic creativity of Albanian writers and artists, as well as to assess and reassess the finest works of art in the following disciplines: music, painting, sculpture and literature. The organization actively promotes the originality and inventiveness of emerging young talents, while preserving Albanian traditional and modern values, in line with the best examples of literary and artistic values throughout the world.
Engels Vasilievich Kozlov was a Soviet Russian painter, People's Artist of Russia, lived and worked in Leningrad – Saint Petersburg, regarded as one of representatives of the Leningrad school of painting, most famous for his genre and portrait painting.
Alexander Sergeevich Stolbov is a Soviet Russian painter and art teacher, living and working in Saint Petersburg. He is a member of the Saint Petersburg Union of Artists, regarded as one of representatives of the Leningrad school of painting, most known for his portraits.
Vasily Vasilievich Golubev was a Soviet, Russian painter. He lived and worked in Leningrad, was a member of the Leningrad Union of Artists, as is regarded as a representative of the Leningrad school of painting.
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