Muzeu Vangjush Mio Korçë

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Vangjush Mio was born on March 3, 1891, in Korcë, Albania. In 1908, due to economic reason, he had to leave together with his brother to Bucharest, Rumania. He was an active member of the Albanian Artist Colony in the Romanian capital. In 1915, he started his studies in Fine Arts (Painting) at the Bucharest National University of Arts and successfully completed his education in 1919. In the same year, he opened his first personal exhibition in Bucharest. In 1920, he turned back for a few months to Albania and exhibited his paintings and drawings in Korçë. That was the first public art exhibition that took place in Albania. He travelled to Rome in September, and as a great admirer of the Italian impressionism of the 19th and early 20th century, he enrolled in the Royal Academy of San Luca. However, financial difficulties forced him to interrupt him studies and to return to Korçë where he worked as an art teacher at the French school.  Thanks to a government scholarship, he could return to Rome, and in 1924, he graduated successfully. Afterwards, V.Mio decided to return to his birthplace, which at that time was the cultural capital of Albania. During his lifetime, he participated in numerous exhibitions throughout Albania and Italy. The last exhibition organized by himself, was a retrospective of his work and took place in November 1957, in the capital of Albania. A few weeks later, on December 30 1957, Mio died in Tirana due to complications caused by jaundice.