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)
Sans titre (les trois amis), 1949-1951, 1949–1951

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre (les trois amis), 1949-1951, 1949–1951

Sale Date: March 17, 2022

Auction Closed

Sans titre (l'intrigante), 1949-1951, 1949–1951

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre (l'intrigante), 1949-1951, 1949–1951

Sale Date: March 17, 2022

Auction Closed

Sans titre (la penseuse), 1956-1957, 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre (la penseuse), 1956-1957, 1956–1957

Sale Date: March 17, 2022

Auction Closed

Sans titre (famille), 1956-1957, 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre (famille), 1956-1957, 1956–1957

Sale Date: March 17, 2022

Auction Closed

Sans titre (portrait de famille avec..., 1959

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre (portrait de famille avec..., 1959

Sale Date: March 17, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1952/1954, 1952–1954

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1952/1954, 1952–1954

Sale Date: March 17, 2022

Auction Closed

Sans titre (Les deux soeurs, deux femmes-fond), 1958

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre (Les deux soeurs, deux femmes-fond), 1958

Sale Date: December 30, 2021

Auction Closed

Sans titre, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre, 1952–1955

Sale Date: December 30, 2021

Auction Closed

Sans titre (couple), 1949–1951

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre (couple), 1949–1951

Sale Date: December 30, 2021

Auction Closed

Sans titre (portrait de famille), 1949–1951

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre (portrait de famille), 1949–1951

Sale Date: December 30, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (Femme), years 1950/1960, 1950–1960

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (Femme), years 1950/1960, 1950–1960

Sale Date: December 15, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (Boy with Bicycle), 1949–1951

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (Boy with Bicycle), 1949–1951

Sale Date: December 15, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (Family)', 1952-55, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (Family)', 1952-55, 1952–1955

Sale Date: November 16, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled (Maliennes en boubou), 1956–1959

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (Maliennes en boubou), 1956–1959

Sale Date: November 24, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1957–1958

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1957–1958

Sale Date: December 3, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1952–1955

Sale Date: December 3, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1949–1951

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1949–1951

Sale Date: December 3, 2021

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1949–1951

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1949–1951

Sale Date: December 3, 2021

Auction Closed

Sans titre (Les deux soeurs, deux..., 1958

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre (Les deux soeurs, deux..., 1958

Sale Date: November 16, 2021

Auction Closed

Sans titre, 1954-56, tirage de 1998, 1954–1956

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre, 1954-56, tirage de 1998, 1954–1956

Sale Date: November 16, 2021

Auction Closed

Sans titre, 1959, tirage de 1998, 1959

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre, 1959, tirage de 1998, 1959

Sale Date: November 16, 2021

Auction Closed

Seydou Keïta, Bamako, Mali, 1948–1963

Seydou Keïta

Seydou Keïta, Bamako, Mali, 1948–1963

Sale Date: November 13, 2021

Auction Closed

Sans titre (Twins), 1956–1957

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre (Twins), 1956–1957

Sale Date: October 16, 2021

Auction Closed

Bamako (Reclining Couple 10:06 AM), 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Bamako (Reclining Couple 10:06 AM), 1952–1955

Sale Date: October 24, 2021

Auction Closed

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