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Ibrahim Likmetaj Kodra (April 22, 1918 - February 7, 2006) was an Albanian-Italian artist. He is the only Albanian painter of international renown.
Biography
Kodra was born in Ishëm (Ishmi), Albania, son of Murat and Xhixhe. The fact that he never returned to his town while alive, and the last will to be buried in Tirana or Durrës indicate that his childhood was not a happy one. Indeed, his mother died when he was young, and the he did not receive adequate treatment from his stepmother. His father was working in the Commercial Marine.
Ibrahim took art classes from Odhise Paskali during 1929, focusing on sport as well. Kodra practiced discus and hammer throw, without pretending any professional career in sport, since those disciplines were not even present in Albania at that time. While taking drawing classes, one of his drawings would come into the focus of Queen Geraldine. This would change his course of life, and later it would be speculated that he was friend of Prince Tati and part of the royal circle, which was not true, though it never seriously bothered the artist. In 1938, he went to Italy to study fine arts supported by a scholarship from the Albanian Kingdom, and there he won a second scholarship from the Italian government as an emerging talent with the intervention of Jacomoni, and went to study in Milano in the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera.
In 1944 he opened his first workshop in Milan;in 1948 he opened a personal and group exposition in the "Art Club" in Rome, where he met Pablo Picasso. In 1950 he painted frescos in the most important museums and buildings of Milan. Kodra then opened an exposition together with Picasso, Rouault, Dufy, Matisse, Modigliani and others in the Mostra del Disegno in Chiavari.
He had many other personal expos all around the world, including:
Collective exposition in "Paradise" with Picasso, Dali, Matta, Ernst, Levi[disambiguation needed], Panseca, Braque etc.
Collective expo in the "Stone Gallery" in Newcastle with Corneille, Gear, Gleghorn, Michaux, Millares etc.
Numerous collectives in Milan, The Stone Gallery in Newcastle, "Senator" in Stuttgart, and also in the "New Art Center" in Zurich.
Personal expo in Modern Art Gallery in Pristina.
Personal expos in Princess Hall in New York, "2D Gallery" in Sassari.
His works are in the Museum of Vatican, in the Chamber of Deputies (House of Representatives) of the Italian Parliament in Rome, in private collections all around the world. In 1996 he won the "Honor of the Nation" award from Albania (Albanian: Nderi i Kombit), and in 1997, shortly after painting Albania Fantastica he was given a diplomatic passport to the Republic of Albania.
He died in Milan in 2006. Kodra was buried in front of Ishëm Castle despite his will not to be buried there. His house in Milano is converted in a museum, with the initiative of Fatos Fasliu, president of "Ibrahim Kodra Foundation" in Milano. In February 2010, a museum dedicated to his work was opened in Melide, Lugano, with the support of Albanian entrepreneur Behgjet Pacolli and Fondazione per i Ragazzi del mondo di Ibrahim Kodra, a Swiss cultural organization supporting emerging art talents and promoting Kodra's work.