Last updated: 28 October 2026
Joshua Donkor is the Ghanaian-British artist behind layered portraits that weave family photographs, fabrics and archive images into paint. Here you will find our take on his work, where Joshua Donkor has shown, and how to bid on his two small landscape paintings in this year’s War Child auction.
Our take on Joshua Donkor
Donkor paints portraits in close collaboration with his sitters. He meets them several times and goes through their photographs and belongings with them. Then he transfers those images onto the surface, layer by layer, around the figure. He told Coutts that “collaborating with my sitters is probably the most crucial bit of my work”. His portraits of his father on the family farm in Ghana hung there in 2023.
He has two pieces in the War Child sale, both in oil and archival image transfers on board. Aburi Sunset shows a man and a boy standing on a dark mound by the water, the boy holding a long blade. Behind them, a canoe with several figures crosses a pale river under an orange sky full of ghostly palm trees. Reflected Legricus shows a girl in a yellow T-shirt and red trainers, seen from behind beside a thin tree, in the same hazy orange light.
The transfers give both panels a worn, half-faded surface, like old photographs. He describes his work as “a homage to all the people, places and histories that have, and continue to, influence my life and the lives of my family members through multiple generations”, in a talk reported by King Edward’s School, Bath. He has had two museum shows in two years, at the Holburne and Abbot Hall, which is a quick rise for a painter born in 1997.
Joshua Donkor: the essentials
- Born in the UK in 1997 and grew up in Bath, according to the Holburne Museum.
- Studied at Cardiff School of Art and Design, Cardiff Metropolitan University (BA, 2017 to 2020), with an Erasmus year at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia.
- Selected for Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year in 2020, and won the Judges’ Prize on the TV series The Next Big Thing in 2021.
- Highly commended in the Young Masters Art Prize and a finalist in RBA Rising Stars, both in 2023. He also had a Tate Collective commission in 2022.
- Showed in Portrait of a Top Boy, curated by Ronan McKenzie with Netflix, at Somerset House in 2023.
- Had a residency with the Holburne Museum at the University of Bath’s Edge Gallery in 2022, followed by a solo display at the museum in 2025.
Where to see Joshua Donkor now
- Coming up: Sound & Vision 2026, a War Child charity auction online from 27 October to 12 November 2026, with the works on view at Iconic Images Gallery, London, 6 to 8 November. The pieces are Reflected Legricus (2026), oil and archival image transfers on board, 15 x 21 cm (5.9 x 8.3 in), lot page, and Aburi Sunset (2026), oil and archival image transfers on board, 15 x 21 cm (5.9 x 8.3 in), lot page.
- Joshua Donkor & Lela Harris: Familial Traces (two-person show), Abbot Hall, Kendal, 11 April to 3 October 2026, reported by Visit Kendal.
- I Have More Souls Than One (solo), The Holburne Museum, Bath, 18 January to 5 May 2025.
- Searching for Roots and Expression (group), Coutts, 440 Strand, London, 2023.
- Portrait of a Top Boy (group), Somerset House, London, September 2023.
How to buy a Joshua Donkor painting
Joshua Donkor has no prints or online gallery listings at the moment. These two small paintings are the easiest way to buy his work:
Joshua Donkor FAQs
Who is Joshua Donkor?
A Ghanaian-British portrait painter, born in 1997, who grew up in Bath and studied at Cardiff School of Art and Design.
How does Joshua Donkor make his paintings?
He works with each sitter to choose family photographs, fabrics and belongings, then layers those images onto the surface with painting and image-transfer techniques.
Was Joshua Donkor on Portrait Artist of the Year?
Yes. He was a selected artist on Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year in 2020.
Where can I see Joshua Donkor’s work in London?
His two War Child pieces are on view at Iconic Images Gallery, 16 Waterloo Place, from 6 to 8 November 2026.
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Main image: Joshua Donkor at the preview of Familial Traces, Abbot Hall, Kendal, 2026. Photo: Emily Cooper, via Visit Kendal. Cropped and framed by CoolCuration. Exhibition dates, prices, auction results and market figures last checked: 28 October 2026.
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