Malick Sidibé
Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve

© Malick Sidibé. Courtesy of the Estate of Malick Sidibé and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
ArtistMalian, 1936–2016
CultureMalian
Titles
  • Christmas Eve
  • Happy-Club Nuit de Noël
Date1963, printed 1999
PlaceMali, Africa
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 47 × 44 7/16 in. (119.4 × 112.9 cm)
Sheet: 59 9/16 × 49 7/8 in. (151.3 × 126.7 cm)
Frame (outer): 65 1/8 × 55 1/8 × 1 1/2 in. (165.5 × 140.1 × 3.8 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Nina and Michael Zilkha
Object number99.223
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
DescriptionMalick Sidibé’s joyful photographs of night- life in Bamako, Mali, captured the spirit of a country newly liberated from its colonial past. Moving from one party to the next in the wee hours, Sidibé captured young people intoxicated by the power of music, new freedom, and possibility. “People said if [I] was at a party,  it gave it energy,” the artist noted. “I would let people know I’d arrived by letting off my flash. You could feel the temperature rise right away.” Caught in the bright glare, the young revelers in Sidibé’s photographs are jubilant embodiments of youth and promise.
Provenance[Deitch Projects, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 1999.
Exhibition History"Clubs of Bamako," Deitch Projects, New York, February 11–March 6, 1999; Rice University Art Gallery, Houston, March 9–April 16, 2000.

"Contemporary Art and Photography: Spotlight on the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, September 30, 2001–February 3, 2002.

"Through an African Lens: Sub-Saharan Photography from the Museum's Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 27–November 8, 2020.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed in black, recto, lower left below image: Happy-Club Nuit de Noël 1963
Signed in black ink, recto, lower right below image: Malick Sidibé 1999
Signed in black ink, recto, lower right below image: Malick Sidibé 1999

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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