Nexhmedin Zajmi (1916-1991) was born in Trebisht in the Dibra region. In 1931, he attended the American Vocational School in Tirana, where he studied agriculture and, later, art. He finished his schooling in 1938 and went on to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, where he graduated in

Spiro Xega (1876-1953), one of the early figures of Albanian painting, was born in Opar in the Korça region of southeastern Albania. He spent his early years in Turkey, where he learned to draw and paint, though without formal professional training.

Simon Rrota (1887-1961) was born in Shkodra and was educated by the Franciscans. He learned to draw and paint under Kolë Idromeno. He studied at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan until 1915 and later travelled in France.

Vangjush Mio (1891-1957) is regarded as the finest Albanian landscape painter of the twentieth century. He was born in Korça and moved with his brother to Bucharest, Romania, in 1908, where, in 1915, he studied at the national school of fine arts. He finished his training there in 1919. In

Born in Korça, Guri Madhi (1921-1988) took part in the Second World War. From 1950-1956, he studied at the academy of arts in Leningrad, and worked for the ministry of culture on his return to Albania. In the wake of the 1966 purge (‘the struggle against bureaucracy’),

Andrea Kushi (1884-1959) was born in Shkodra and studied art in Belgrade from 1912 to 1914. In the 1920s, he taught school in Shkodra before moving to Tirana to set up the first art school there (1931-1937). Kushi lived in Korça from 1937 to 1943, where he was in close

Zef Kolombi (1907-1949) was born in Sarajevo of a father from Shkodra and a mother from Slovenia. His parents died when he was very young and he was raised in Shkodra by his grandmother. After a difficult youth, he got a state scholarship from minister Hilë Mosi to study at

Sadik Kaceli (1914-2000) was born in Tirana of a large family from the nearby Dajti region. From 1929, he attended the American Vocational School, where he specialized in drawing. He acquired an initial knowledge of world art from the art books and magazines that he discovered at the new Herbert

Painter, photographer and architect Kolë Idromeno (1860-1939) is perhaps the best-known of the early figures of Albanian painting. He was born in Shkodra and began drawing and doing water colours at an early age (1871-1874). With the help of Pjetër Marubi, from whom he also learned the art of photography,

Abdurrahim Buza (1905-1986) was born in Skopje of a family from Gjakova in Kosovo. With the help of Bajram Curri, he was able to get a basic education in Shkodra and Tirana and then attend the Normal School (Shkolla Normale) in Elbasan (1923-1928). As a student there, he took an