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

Seydou Keïta

SANS TITRE

Sale Date: December 13, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled (Femme au chapeau), 1959, 1959

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (Femme au chapeau), 1959, 1959

Sale Date: November 25, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled (Père de famille et son bébé), , 1949–1951

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (Père de famille et son bébé), , 1949–1951

Sale Date: November 25, 2020

Auction Closed

'UNTITLED (FATHER WITH DAUGHTER)',..., 1949–1951

Seydou Keïta

'UNTITLED (FATHER WITH DAUGHTER)',..., 1949–1951

Sale Date: October 14, 2020

Auction Closed

‘UNTITLED (FAMILY)’, 1952-55, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

‘UNTITLED (FAMILY)’, 1952-55, 1952–1955

Sale Date: October 14, 2020

Auction Closed

‘UNTITLED (MAN)’, 1952-75, 1952–1975

Seydou Keïta

‘UNTITLED (MAN)’, 1952-75, 1952–1975

Sale Date: October 14, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled (young woman wearing a black and..., 1949

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (young woman wearing a black and..., 1949

Sale Date: October 14, 2020

Auction Closed

Sans titre, 1949-1951, 1949–1951

Seydou Keïta

Sans titre, 1949-1951, 1949–1951

Sale Date: October 9, 2020

Auction Closed

SEYDOU KEÏTA, UNTITLED, 1959-1960, 1959

Seydou Keïta

SEYDOU KEÏTA, UNTITLED, 1959-1960, 1959

Sale Date: October 9, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1958, 1958

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1958, 1958

Sale Date: September 30, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

Untitled, 1952–1955

Sale Date: September 30, 2020

Auction Closed

SELECTED BAMAKO STUDIO PORTRAITS, 1980–1989

Seydou Keïta

SELECTED BAMAKO STUDIO PORTRAITS, 1980–1989

Sale Date: July 29, 2020

Auction Closed

Bambino con bicicletta, 1998

Seydou Keïta

Bambino con bicicletta, 1998

Sale Date: July 15, 2020

Auction Closed

UNTITLED, 1957-1958, 1957–1958

Seydou Keïta

UNTITLED, 1957-1958, 1957–1958

Sale Date: March 31, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled (young woman wearing a head-scarf)

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (young woman wearing a head-scarf)

Sale Date: July 13, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled (father and daughter)

Seydou Keïta

Untitled (father and daughter)

Sale Date: July 13, 2020

Auction Closed

56A57, 16.6.2001, 2001

Seydou Keïta

56A57, 16.6.2001, 2001

Sale Date: November 7, 2019

Auction Closed

56A57, 10.5.2001, 2001

Seydou Keïta

56A57, 10.5.2001, 2001

Sale Date: November 7, 2019

Auction Closed

52A55, 10.5.2001, 2001

Seydou Keïta

52A55, 10.5.2001, 2001

Sale Date: November 7, 2019

Auction Closed

UNTITLED, 1952-1955, 1952–1955

Seydou Keïta

UNTITLED, 1952-1955, 1952–1955

Sale Date: November 8, 2019

Auction Closed

A MOORISH HARATINE WOMAN POSING WITH..., 1949–1951

Seydou Keïta

A MOORISH HARATINE WOMAN POSING WITH..., 1949–1951

Sale Date: November 8, 2019

Auction Closed

Reclining Woman, 1958

Seydou Keïta

Reclining Woman, 1958

Sale Date: October 17, 2019

Auction Closed

Untitled #454, 1950

Seydou Keïta

Untitled #454, 1950

Sale Date: September 19, 2019

Auction Closed

Uomo con fiore, 1997

Seydou Keïta

Uomo con fiore, 1997

Sale Date: June 6, 2019

Auction Closed

English (US)

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