National Gallery of Arts

Socialist realism kept on the wall rather than put in the cellar.

Murat Toptani St 2, Tiranë, Albania

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Murat Toptani St 2, Tiranë, Albania galeriakombetare.al

The State Collection of Albanian Painting Since the 19th Century

The National Gallery of Arts sits on the boulevard a few minutes south of the main square and holds the country's principal public holdings of visual art, run u…The National Gallery of Arts sits on the boulevard a few minutes south of the main square and holds the country's principal public holdings of visual art, run under the Ministry of Culture. The permanent display runs from the first academic painters of the 1800s through the socialist realist decades, which are the reason many visitors come: the regime's canvases of tractors, partisans and steelworks are kept and shown rather than hidden.

Temporary shows bring in contemporary work from Albania and abroad, and the building itself, a modernist block from the 1970s, has been undergoing a renovation programme, so check what is open before making a special trip.