Tony Curanaj

A precocious kid, Curanaj went from sketching cartoon characters to becoming an illustrator and head designer for major book and film companies. He is now a fine artist and leading figure in contemporary realism. Curanaj’s paintings are admired and highly collected all over the world.

He may have been born and raised in New York, but Tony Curanaj’s father and mother are Albanians who hail from the region of Guci in Montenegro and from Tuz, Malësi. They moved to New York as a newly married couple in 1969, and the following year moved their whole family to the United States—something Curanaj considers an impressive feat. “From the stories I have heard, it sounded so challenging to move to a different part of the world, to a different language and culture. I have a lot of respect for people who take on such an endeavor,” Curanaj says.

It was the decision to move to a new country that provided Tony the privilege of growing up in the culturally rich city of New York. Here, he was exposed to the arts, music, books, and film while still being brought up in a traditional Albanian household—and these very influences ultimately catapulted him to success.