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Joyce Quarshie (1956-2024)

Born on Tuesday March 27, 1956, Joyce Quarshie’s life was rooted in Ghanaian Art, history and politics, growing up in a family of influential figures. Her father, John Kwame Agbevanu Quashie, served as a special advisor to President Kwame Nkrumah and played a key role in the creation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). He also held ambassadorial posts in Ivory Coast, Congo, and Egypt, while chairing the Agricultural Development Corporation. Her mother, Sabina Patricks, was connected to some of Ghana’s most prominent political figures, including Joyce’s grand aunt, Hannah Kudjoe, and grand uncle, E.K. Dadson. This environment imbued Joyce with a deep sense of nationalism and cultural pride, which would shape her lifelong dedication to preserving Ghanaian Art.

Joyce received her early education at Accra Girls’ School in 1968, before moving to Versailles, France for high school and completing her studies in Connecticut, USA. Upon her return to Ghana, she joined her mother in the fish trade and eventually expanded her interests into luxury goods and art. After her mother’s passing in 1979, when Joyce was just 23, she became especially close to her grand aunt, Hannah Kudjoe, a dressmaker and political activist. Known for leading the campaign to free Ghana’s Big Six from colonial imprisonment, Kudjoe further inspired Joyce’s passion for cultural preservation.

Joyce’s time in the United States exposed her to a wide array of artistic expressions, laying the foundation for her future as a prominent art collector. In 1982, following her introduction to three of Ghana’s most distinguished artists—A. O. Bartimeus, Fojig Acolatse, and Reggie Quao by one of her close friends Jennifer Cofie-Edu—Joyce began assembling an impressive collection of Ghanaian art. She later moved to Nigeria in 1984, where she spent a decade successfully promoting Ghanaian artists.