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“A Girl in Red (Portrait of Gladys Ankora)” by Grace Salome Kwami (Ghanaian) - Oil on linen on canvas / 1954 - The Phillips Collection (Washington, DC) #WomenInArt #WomensArt #WomenArtists #GraceSalomeKwami #Kwami #art #PhillipsCollection #artText #GhanaianArt #GhanaianArtist #WomenPaintingWomen
Painted around 1954, on the cusp of Ghana’s independence era, this portrait treats an everyday working woman as a bearer of modern life. Gladys Ankora worked in artist Grace Salome Kwami’s family household in Achimota, and that proximity is felt via close cropping and an unshowy pose. Ankora faces forward against a muted olive-green ground. She is a young Ghanaian woman with deep brown skin, softly modeled cheeks, and a steady, direct gaze. Her dark hair is wrapped in a rose-red headscarf that frames her forehead and falls over one shoulder. A small gold, diamond-shaped earring catches the light, and a thin necklace rests at the base of her neck. She wears a vivid red and pink dress with a wide boat neckline. The fabric is patterned with pale starbursts that repeat across the bodice and wide collar. Kwami’s warm reds and browns are balanced by subtle highlights on the bridge of the nose, lips, and collarbone, giving the face sculptural presence. The sitter’s shoulders are squared and calm, her mouth gently closed, her expression composed. Paint remains slightly matte and textured, and the close cropping brings her near so cloth, skin, and light read as equally important markers of personhood. The background is brushed in thin layers of green and tan, like worn plaster, keeping attention on her face. Her chin lifts slightly, suggesting quiet resolve rather than performance. The starburst motifs echo across the neckline and bodice, creating a gentle rhythm that contrasts with the Ankora’s stillness. Kwami, known as “Da Grace,” trained at Achimota’s School of Art and Craft and persevered in a field shaped by gender bias, developing her own realism when modern African art histories were scarcely taught. By lingering on cloth, pattern, and gold, she links personal style to cultural identity, while Ankora’s presence refuses an exoticizing gaze. Gladys Ankora is presented as a specific person, dignified and self-possessed.
December 30, 2025 at 9:22 PM