Andrea Kushi (1884–1959) was an

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

n painter. He was one of the most important representatives of the elder generation of Albanian painters.

Life and work

Kushi was born 1885 in

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shkod ...

, where he spent his childhood and received first art impulses through the paintings of the famous Albanian painter

Kolë Idromeno Nikoll Idromeno (; 15 August 186012 December 1939), 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 ...

. He studied Fine Arts between 1912 and 1914 in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, when he was forced to interrupt the lessons due to the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the war he went back to Belgrade where he successfully completed his studies in 1920. Kushi dedicated himself to the education of young painters. He moved back to Albania and became a teacher of Fine Arts at the Gymnasium of Elbasan, and later on moved to Tirana in 1931 and the same year he established the first drawing school in the country, which some months later in 1932 became the official Fine Arts School of Albania (''Shkolla e vizatimit''). Kushi was one of the organizers of the first national art exhibition in Albania, which took place in May 1931 at the ''Café Kursal'' in Tirana. The success of this exhibition led him and other painters to the creation of the ''Friends of the Arts Society'' ''(Shoqnia Miqt’ e Artit)'', which had as a primary goal the foundation of a national gallery. Between 1937 and 1943 he lived in

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the eighth most populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population is 75,994 (2011 census), in a total area of . It stands on a plateau some ...

where he was in contact with other known painters like Vangjush Mio and

Foto Stamo Foto may refer to: *Fotö, an island and locality in Öckerö municipality, Västra Götaland county, Sweden * Foto language, a Bantu language of the Democratic Republic of Congo *Foto Strakosha (born 1965), an Albanian retired football goalkeeper * ...

. Kushi moved back to Elbasan in 1944 and later on in 1947 to Tirana, where he stayed until his death in 1959. Kushi's focus was on

Portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

s and

Landscape art Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent compos ...

. Very famous are the paintings ''Portret vajze'' (Portrait of a girl) and ''Bariu me shkop'' (Shepherd with a Staff). The paintings of Kushi can be admired at the National Gallery of Figurative Arts of Albania in Tirana and at the galleries of Elbasan and Shkodër.

References

* Robert Elsie
Website of the Albanologist about albanian art
albanianart.net

Shkodra.net
National Gallery of Figurative Arts of Albania
*
Special about albanian painters
Online Magazine „Storia in Network“

External links

albanianart.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Kushi, Andrea 1884 births 1959 deaths People from Shkodër University of Arts in Belgrade alumni 20th-century Albanian painters Albanian expatriates in Serbia