Georg Brochhoff Quistgaard was born in Copenhagen in 1915, to Georg B. Quistgaard and Marie Quistgaard, née Breyner. Quistgaard dropped out of high-school and travelled through Europe on foot and bicycle. In Paris, he met Ellen Nielsen, whom he later married. They returned to Denmark, and they opened a small shop of art works in Copehangen, which went out of business in 1940.