Stamp of Albania - 1976 - Colnect 355526 - Cooperation 1974 by Zef Shoshi

Zef Pashko Shoshi (born 1939) is an

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

, painting in socialist realism. Shoshi is considered a national art treasure in Albania.

Biography

Shoshi was born in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, 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 ov ...

, in 1939, the son of a bank clerk and amateur painter. His earliest drawings depicted ships on the horizon during a stay in

Ulcinj Ulcinj () is a town in the Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro and the capital of Ulcinj Municipality. It has an urban population of 11,488. As one of the oldest settlements in the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coast, it was founded in 5th ...

in 1943 or 1944. Between 1957 and 1961, Shoshi studied at the Ilya Repin Institution in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, Russia, during which time he studied under Boris Ioganson, and was a contemporary of artist and sculptor . Shoshi later graduated from the Tirana Institute of Arts. Shoshi's talent and technique was recognised in Albanian art circles. His paintings reflected

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

themes, such as the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

in fields and factories. He particularly documented life in the Zadrima region, reflecting its traditional and cultural heritage in daily life. His style pays particular attention to the human figure and face, lending Shoshi to be best known for his portraits. In 1974, Shoshi was commissioned to paint

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the Secretary (titl ...

, Albania's dictator. After the

fall of communism The revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts of the world. Th ...

, Shoshi's works attracted the attention of international collectors, particularly in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

References

* 20th-century Albanian painters Living people 1939 births Imperial Academy of Arts alumni Socialist realist artists {{Albania-painter-stub