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)
Bambino con bicicletta, 1988

Seydou Keïta

Bambino con bicicletta, 1988

Sale Date: June 6, 2019

Auction Closed

Polizeibeamter der Kolonialverwaltung mit..., 1956

Seydou Keïta

Polizeibeamter der Kolonialverwaltung mit..., 1956

Sale Date: May 31, 2019

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1959

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1959

Sale Date: May 31, 2019

Auction Closed

Untitled #42A 51, 1950–1955

Seydou Keïta

Untitled #42A 51, 1950–1955

Sale Date: May 19, 2019

Auction Closed

Untitled #267, 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Untitled #267, 1956–1957

Sale Date: May 19, 2019

Auction Closed

Untitled #304, 1952–1958

Seydou Keïta

Untitled #304, 1952–1958

Sale Date: May 19, 2019

Auction Closed

UNTITLED, 1952-1955, 1955–1956

Seydou Keïta

UNTITLED, 1952-1955, 1955–1956

Sale Date: April 2, 2019

Auction Closed

UNTITLED, 1956-57 (TWINS), 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

UNTITLED, 1956-57 (TWINS), 1956–1957

Sale Date: April 2, 2019

Auction Closed

Untitled (two sisters with their arms..., 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (two sisters with their arms..., 1956–1957

Sale Date: April 4, 2019

Auction Closed

UNTITLED, 1957-1958, 1957–1958

Seydou Keïta

UNTITLED, 1957-1958, 1957–1958

Sale Date: February 27, 2019

Auction Closed

UNTITLED, 1952-1955, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

UNTITLED, 1952-1955, 1952–1955

Sale Date: February 27, 2019

Auction Closed

Sans titre, 1959

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre, 1959

Sale Date: December 30, 2018

Auction Closed

Sans titre (L'Odalisque), 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre (L'Odalisque), 1956–1957

Sale Date: December 30, 2018

Auction Closed

Sans titre, Accordéoniste qui animait..., 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre, Accordéoniste qui animait..., 1952–1955

Sale Date: November 23, 2018

Auction Closed

Jeune ouvrier et ses jumeaux, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Jeune ouvrier et ses jumeaux, 1952–1955

Sale Date: November 23, 2018

Auction Closed

Sans titre, 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre, 1956–1957

Sale Date: November 23, 2018

Auction Closed

Sans titre, Trois jeunes gens à la mode , 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre, Trois jeunes gens à la mode , 1956–1957

Sale Date: November 23, 2018

Auction Closed

Sans titre, 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre, 1956–1957

Sale Date: November 23, 2018

Auction Closed

Maliennes en boubou, 1956

Seydou Keïta

Maliennes en boubou, 1956

Sale Date: November 8, 2018

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1998

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1998

Sale Date: November 21, 2018

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1998

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1998

Sale Date: November 21, 2018

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1958

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1958

Sale Date: November 1, 2018

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1952–1959

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1952–1959

Sale Date: November 1, 2018

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1952–1955, 1952

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1952–1955, 1952

Sale Date: October 5, 2018

Auction Closed

English (US)

©2024 Artnet Worldwide Corporation. All rights reserved.