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Qimära Art

@qimara-art.bsky.social

New Year, New Beginnings 🎆

Made with Daz3D #3d #Daz3D #ghanaianartist #blackartist #blackplussizeart #happynewyear2026

January 1, 2026 at 7:40 AM

Michael

@mdstamper.bsky.social

“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

Michael

@mdstamper.bsky.social

“Market Woman in Ghana” by Lebrecht (Liebrecht) Hesse – Oil on canvas / 1947 – University of Sussex Art Collection (Falmer, East Sussex, U.K.) #WomenInArt #art #artText #artwork #LebrechtHesse #BlueskyArt #UniversityofSussex #oilpainting #portraitofawoman #GhanaianArt #GhanaianArtist #AfricanArt

A Ghanaian woman sits and leans over a large bowl filled with red fruit or seeds, her left arm submerged as if washing or sorting. Her skin is a deep brown, illuminated by the warm glow of reflected light. She wears a voluminous green dress patterned with horizontal stripes of red and gold, its angular folds creating rhythmic movement through the composition. Barefoot and poised in motion, her bent limbs form strong geometric lines, while her bowed head and focused expression convey strength, labor, and concentration. The dark brown, nearly abstract background pushes her body forward, framing her as the undeniable center of gravity.

Painted in 1947, Lebrecht Hesse’s “Market Woman in Ghana” emerged at a pivotal time when Ghanaian artists were shaping visual identities independent of colonial narratives. Hesse, working within early modern Ghanaian realism yet embracing stylized abstraction, captures the market woman as both archetype and individual. The market, a traditional space of female entrepreneurship and social authority, becomes a symbol of Ghana’s cultural resilience. Her body bends with purpose, but her scale and composure assert quiet power.

Hesse’s work aligns with a generation of African painters who localized Western techniques to articulate national identity. His bold contouring and deliberate simplification recall the emerging synthesis of African formalism and European modernism. Through restrained color, tactile brushwork, and monumental form, “Market Woman in Ghana” celebrates both the dignity of labor and the cultural agency of Ghanaian women as anchors of community whose daily work sustained and defined urban life long before independence.

October 5, 2025 at 9:31 PM

Shine My Crown

@shinemycrown.com

Amaarae’s First Coachella Look: A Bold Leather Pantsuit and Jacket Take Center Stage: Amaarae made history at the 2025 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, becoming the first Ghanaian artist to perform at the… #Amaarae #Coachella2025 #FashionStatement #GhanaianArtist #MusicFestival