Božena Vilhar was privately educated by some of the most important painters (M. Crnčić, Moretti-Zajc, Kirin, Vanka, Becić).
In 1932, as a 26-year-old painter, she joined the Association of Artists and then exhibited as a guest in Zagreb and Sušak. After she became a member in 1933 she exhibited in Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Romania, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.
She was politically active in the National Liberation Movement and The Women’s Antifascist Front of Sušak since 1941. Towards the end of 1944 she joined the Partisan troops in Gorski kotar and as a painter, she started portraying soldiers and their lives. In 1945 she exhibited her war works in Crikvenica together with Belizar Bahorić and Zvonko Car.
In the post-war period, she was actively involved in professional groups: the Association of Italian and Croat Artists in Rijeka (the forerunner of Rijeka’s ULUH), then in Zagreb’s ULUH, Belgrade’s ULUS, and finally in the Rijeka branch of Croatian Association of Artists as the first president. She also exhibited independently (London, Cairo, Rijeka).
In 1974 she opened the first private art gallery in Rijeka.
Grave location: TRSAT (E-8-81, niches)