Seydou Keïta

(Malian, 1923–2001)

Seydou Keïta was a Malian photographer known for his black-and-white portraits of friends, family, and neighbors. Running a commercial portrait studio, the artist captured many idiosyncratic details of time and place, including the traditional patterned dresses of his female sitters. “It’s easy to take a photo, but what really made a difference was that I always knew how to find the right position, and I never was wrong,” he once said. “Their head slightly turned, a serious face, the position of the hands—I was capable of making someone look really good.” Born c. 1921 in Bamako, Mali, he worked as a carpenter with his father as a young man. Keïta first began taking photographs after receiving a Kodak Brownie camera as a gift from his uncle. By 1949, he had established a studio in a small courtyard nearby one of Bamako’s prisons. After having much of his equipment stolen over during the 1970s, the artist shuttered his studio space in 1977. In 1992, two French photographers Bernard Descamps and Françoise Huguier, traveled to Mali in search of Keïta, having seen his work in a recent show at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. The Frenchmen and their gallerist subsequently introduced Keïta’s work to an international audience, leading to opportunities that included a photo campaign for Harper’s Bazaar during the mid-1990s. The artist died on November 22, 2001 in Paris, France. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland, and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, among others.

Seydou Keïta Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Seydou Keïta (440 results)
Femmes assises dans l'herbe, 1956–1956

Seydou Keïta

Femmes assises dans l'herbe, 1956–1956

Sale Date: June 23, 2004

Auction Closed

Femme avec robe à rayures noires et la..., 1952–1952

Seydou Keïta

Femme avec robe à rayures noires et la..., 1952–1952

Sale Date: June 23, 2004

Auction Closed

Gros monsieur avec petit bébé, 1950–1954

Seydou Keïta

Gros monsieur avec petit bébé, 1950–1954

Sale Date: June 23, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled (Mother and baby), 1952–1954

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (Mother and baby), 1952–1954

Sale Date: June 24, 2004

Auction Closed

Elegant young man holding a flower, 1958–1958

Seydou Keïta

Elegant young man holding a flower, 1958–1958

Sale Date: April 27, 2004

Auction Closed

A young couple and their friend, 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

A young couple and their friend, 1956–1957

Sale Date: April 24, 2004

Auction Closed

Father and child, 1949–1954

Seydou Keïta

Father and child, 1949–1954

Sale Date: April 24, 2004

Auction Closed

Two young women posing as twins, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Two young women posing as twins, 1952–1955

Sale Date: April 24, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1952–1956

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1952–1956

Sale Date: February 4, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled (Young woman wearing a black..., 1949–1949

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (Young woman wearing a black..., 1949–1949

Sale Date: December 10, 2003

Auction Closed

Portrait de femme, 1959–1960

Seydou Keïta

Portrait de femme, 1959–1960

Sale Date: December 11, 2003

Auction Closed

Man holding twins, 1950–1959

Seydou Keïta

Man holding twins, 1950–1959

Sale Date: November 19, 2003

Auction Closed

Untitled, 2001–2001

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 2001–2001

Sale Date: November 14, 2003

Auction Closed

A woman in loose dress with triple-puff , 1957–1958

Seydou Keïta

A woman in loose dress with triple-puff , 1957–1958

Sale Date: October 20, 2003

Auction Closed

Twins in European dress, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Twins in European dress, 1952–1955

Sale Date: October 20, 2003

Auction Closed

A young mother with her baby, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

A young mother with her baby, 1952–1955

Sale Date: October 20, 2003

Auction Closed

Woman with baby, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Woman with baby, 1952–1955

Sale Date: June 26, 2003

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1955–1958

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1955–1958

Sale Date: June 24, 2003

Auction Closed

Untitled, 2001–2001

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 2001–2001

Sale Date: May 16, 2003

Auction Closed

Young woman wearing a black and white..., 1949–1949

Seydou Keïta

Young woman wearing a black and white..., 1949–1949

Sale Date: April 25, 2003

Auction Closed

Man with flower, 1959–1959

Seydou Keïta

Man with flower, 1959–1959

Sale Date: April 22, 2003

Auction Closed

Woman with baby, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Woman with baby, 1952–1955

Sale Date: April 22, 2003

Auction Closed

Sans titre, 1949–1951

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre, 1949–1951

Sale Date: November 16, 2002

Auction Closed

Deux femmes, 1958–1958

Seydou Keïta

Deux femmes, 1958–1958

Sale Date: November 16, 2002

Auction Closed

English (US)

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