Seydou Keïta
Untitled

Untitled

© Seydou Keïta/SKPEAC

Untitled
Untitled
ArtistMalian, 1923–2001
CultureMalian
Titles
  • Untitled
Date1952–1955, printed 1997
Made inMali, Africa
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 21 1/4 × 15 1/16 in. (54 × 38.3 cm)
Sheet: 23 7/8 × 19 15/16 in. (60.7 × 50.6 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Joan Morgenstern in honor of Louis Lechenger
Object number97.317
Not on view

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Department
Photography
Object Type
DescriptionWhen the self-taught photographer Seydou Keïta opened a portrait studio in his hometown of Bamako in 1948, there were only four other photography studios in Mali. Photography was increasingly popular in West Africa during the transition from colonial to independent governance beginning in the 1950s, and the rising middle class flocked to urban portrait studios to present themselves in the style of popular culture from Europe and the United States, as well as from North Africa and India. Keïta’s reputation spread beyond Mali, and clients were drawn from all over West Africa to express their vision of a new, modern lifestyle. Some brought items with which they wanted to be photographed, such as this woman leaning on her radio, but Keïta also had a variety of Western clothing and accessories available for their use. Working with a large-format camera, he made intimate portraits, precisely framed against the brilliant patterns of his backdrops that eloquently portray the vivacity of Malian society in a time of great change.
Provenance[Gagosian Gallery, London]; purchased by MFAH, 1997.
Exhibition History"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
Signed in black ink, recto, lower right below image: Seydou Keïta [initials?] 1952–55, 1997
Inscribed in pencil, verso, bottom center: 1072[underlined] P126
Inscribed in pencil, verso, bottom right corner: 66.
Signed in black ink, recto, lower right below image: Seydou Keïta [initials?] 1952–55, 1997

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Seydou Keïta
1949–1951, printed later
Gelatin silver print
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Seydou Keïta
1952–1955, printed 1999
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1958, printed 1997
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1956–1957, printed 1995
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1986
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uncropped recto of sheet
1979
Gelatin silver print
2002.544
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1980s–1990s
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no date
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1940s–1960s
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2002.1222