The people’s Painter Vangjush Miho was born in 1891 in Korca. His drawings of 1906 are evidence of his passion for painting when he was in the secondary school, which he could not finish because of ill health. In 1908 his brother took him in Bucharest where he had emigrated earlier. He entered in the School of Fine Arts of Bucharest in painting branch in 1915 and he graduated from his school in 1919.
In that same year Vangjush Miho put on his first personal, exhibition which made his talent for landscape painting known to general public. Upon his return to Albania in 1920 he put on Korca another personal exhibition, which was the first of this kind in the country.
Later he entered in the Institute of Fine Arts in Rome an institute in the academic tradition. In 1924 he got a scholarship from the state and he went to Rome again, where he sat his last exams for the diploma of painter and restorer of paintings.
Upon his final return o the homeland in 1924, Vangjush Miho put up a studio in his house where he continued to draw and paint without interrupting his work as a teacher of drawing. Vangush Miho was engaged almost totally in landscapes.
In the meantime the number of his paintings constantly grew. He had already formed his personality as an artist. The subjects of his paintings were mainly the characteristic surroundings of Korca and its plain, of Pogradec and the Ohri Lake, of Elbasan and Durres. His painting became clearer and more decorative in style.
Vangjush Miho greeted with joy the liberation he continued his work as a teacher of drawing for a few more years in the secondary school in Korca., and he traveled around the country and did many painting with motifs from various regions and cities such as Berat, Vlora, ecc.
The last time he took part in a national exhibition in Tirana was November 1957, only one month before he died on December 30 of the same year.
His works includes more than 400 oil paintings, landscapes, still-lifes, portraits, as well as many drawings which are outstanding for their artistic values and original style.
His house and his studio in Korca have been turned into a museum and he has the title “People’s Painter”
Useful information
Korce Vangjush Miho Museum
Visiting Hours: 09.00-19.00; Holiday: Sunday
Address: L. 3, Rr Spiro ballkameri, Nr 3