Seydou Keïta
Untitled

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Artist Seydou Keïta Malian, 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

PHOTOGRAPHS

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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