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)
Untitled (Bamako, Father and Child), 1950

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (Bamako, Father and Child), 1950

Sale Date: October 8, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1956

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1956

Sale Date: October 7, 2021

Auction Closed

Sans titre (Twins), 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre (Twins), 1956–1957

Sale Date: July 24, 2021

Auction Closed

Sans titre (Deux femmes-fond), 1958, tirage..., 2001

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre (Deux femmes-fond), 1958, tirage..., 2001

Sale Date: June 15, 2021

Auction Closed

Portrait of a young man, 1949–1951

Seydou Keïta

Portrait of a young man, 1949–1951

Sale Date: May 27, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1950–1959

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1950–1959

Sale Date: June 17, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1952–1955

Sale Date: June 17, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1952–1955

Sale Date: June 17, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1956–1957

Sale Date: June 17, 2021

Auction Closed

FATHER & SON

Seydou Keïta

FATHER & SON

Sale Date: May 28, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (femme assise, fond à damier), 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (femme assise, fond à damier), 1952–1955

Sale Date: May 25, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (policier), 1958

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (policier), 1958

Sale Date: May 25, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (vieille femme assise, montre..., 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (vieille femme assise, montre..., 1956–1957

Sale Date: May 25, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (homme à l'accordéon), 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (homme à l'accordéon), 1952–1955

Sale Date: May 25, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (femme assise, bijoux, chapeau , 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (femme assise, bijoux, chapeau , 1956–1957

Sale Date: May 25, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (jeune homme assis, habits noirs et , 1959

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (jeune homme assis, habits noirs et , 1959

Sale Date: May 25, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, (femme assise, robe blanche, fond..., 1957

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, (femme assise, robe blanche, fond..., 1957

Sale Date: May 25, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (homme assis au chapeau), 1958

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (homme assis au chapeau), 1958

Sale Date: May 25, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (Portrait of sitting man..., 1949–1951

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (Portrait of sitting man..., 1949–1951

Sale Date: May 25, 2021

Auction Closed

Jeune Couple, vers 1952-55, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Jeune Couple, vers 1952-55, 1952–1955

Sale Date: May 19, 2021

Auction Closed

Three Young Men from Mali, c.1954; 52 a 55;..., 1998

Seydou Keïta

Three Young Men from Mali, c.1954; 52 a 55;..., 1998

Sale Date: March 18, 2021

Auction Closed

Seydou Keïta

"Un Juge et son petit-fils" Bamako, 1949–1951

Sale Date: February 27, 2021

Auction Closed

56 to 57, 1998., 1998

Seydou Keïta

56 to 57, 1998., 1998

Sale Date: February 7, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1956–1957

Sale Date: December 17, 2020

Auction Closed

English (US)

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