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, 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1956–1957

Sale Date: April 24, 2007

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1956

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1956

Sale Date: April 24, 2007

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1949–1951

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1949–1951

Sale Date: April 24, 2007

Auction Closed

Young woman wearing a black and white..., 1952

Seydou Keïta

Young woman wearing a black and white..., 1952

Sale Date: March 10, 2007

Auction Closed

Sans titre, 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre, 1956–1957

Sale Date: December 21, 2006

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1998

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1998

Sale Date: November 28, 2006

Auction Closed

Woman with Radio, 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Woman with Radio, 1956–1957

Sale Date: October 25, 2006

Auction Closed

Fleur de Paris, 1959

Seydou Keïta

Fleur de Paris, 1959

Sale Date: October 19, 2006

Auction Closed

Twins, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Twins, 1952–1955

Sale Date: October 18, 2006

Auction Closed

Untitled (Mother and baby), 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (Mother and baby), 1952–1955

Sale Date: June 19, 2006

Auction Closed

Untitled (Odalisque), 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (Odalisque), 1956–1957

Sale Date: April 26, 2006

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1956–1957

Sale Date: April 25, 2006

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1949–1951

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1949–1951

Sale Date: April 25, 2006

Auction Closed

Untitled, 2001

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 2001

Sale Date: March 14, 2006

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1952–1956

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1952–1956

Sale Date: October 25, 2005

Auction Closed

Untitled (Hipster), 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (Hipster), 1952–1955

Sale Date: October 20, 2005

Auction Closed

Fleur de Paris, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Fleur de Paris, 1952–1955

Sale Date: October 20, 2005

Auction Closed

Young woman, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Young woman, 1952–1955

Sale Date: May 18, 2005

Auction Closed

Ohne Titel, 1949–1952

Seydou Keïta

Ohne Titel, 1949–1952

Sale Date: April 30, 2005

Auction Closed

Untitled (Odalisque), 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (Odalisque), 1956–1957

Sale Date: April 28, 2005

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1949–1954

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1949–1954

Sale Date: February 7, 2005

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1952–1956

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1952–1956

Sale Date: February 7, 2005

Auction Closed

Homme assis avec parapluie, homme..., 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Homme assis avec parapluie, homme..., 1952–1955

Sale Date: November 9, 2004

Auction Closed

Couple assis, elle robe noire, lui..., 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Couple assis, elle robe noire, lui..., 1952–1955

Sale Date: November 9, 2004

Auction Closed

English (US)

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