Skip to main content

Seydou Keïta Photography

Malian, 1921-2001
Danziger Gallery in collaboration with the Contemporary African Art Collection of Jean Pigozzi (CAAC) is proud to announce two forthcoming exhibitions of the renowned African photographer Seydou Keïta. We will be presenting Keïta’s work at the 1-54 African Art Fair in New York (May 3 – 5) and as our opening show of Fall 2019. Born circa 1921, Keïta lived in Bamako, Mali, where he ran a successful portrait studio taking pictures of local individuals and families. Essentially self-taught, Keïta developed his trademark style photographing his sitters in daylight against a variety of backdrops from plain drapes to vibrant African pattern. Some customers brought in items they wanted to be photographed with but Keïta also had a selection of accessories and clothing at his subject’s disposal. No matter the situation Keïta had a natural gift and a refined aesthetic that made his portraits true and distinctive works of art. Unknown to the West for most of his career, Keïta was “rediscovered” by westerners in the early 90’s including by the African Art collector Jean Pigozzi. In 1992 Pigozzi sent his curator André Magnin to Bamako to try to contact and meet Keïta. Magnin returned with 921 negatives and arranged for a printer in Paris to make the first archival prints of the images under Keïta’s supervision. In 1994 Keïta a was given a solo show at the Fondation Cartier followed by an impressive number of museum shows around the world. By the time of his death in 2001, Keïta was not only recognized as one of the greatest photographers of the 20th Century but particularly in his use of contrasting backdrops, his work has influenced a whole generation of artists, most notably painters Mickalene Thomas and Kehinde Wiley, and triggered a worldwide interest in African photography.
(Biography provided by Danziger Gallery)
to
2
2
2
2
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
6,864
3,209
2,514
1,217
2
2
2
2
2
Artist: Seydou Keïta
Untitled Portrait
By Seydou Keïta
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes framing with UV Plexi ($900 value), free shipping, and a 14-day return policy. Seydou Keïta Untitled Portrait, 1952 - 1955 (02158) 23...
Category

1950s Seydou Keïta Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Untitled Portrait
By Seydou Keïta
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes framing with UV Plexi ($900 value), free shipping, and a 14-day return policy. Seydou Keïta Untitled Portrait, 1952 - 1955 (00089-MA.K...
Category

1950s Seydou Keïta Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Related Items
Woman Protestor, March on Washington, African-American Civil Rights Photography
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Woman Protestor, March on Washington, 1963 by Leonard Freed, is a 14" x 11" gelatin silver photograph, signed and stamped on verso (back of photo) by the estate, Brigitte Freed (wife of the photographer). The photo is in Leonard Freed's book “This Is the Day: The March on Washington'' (p. 50). Leonard Freed enjoyed documentary storytelling and as a "concerned photographer" his work demonstrated humanitarian concerns. The photographer travelled to New York, Washington, D.C., and throughout the South, capturing the daily life of African-Americans. Documenting the 1960s Civil Rights Movement from the East Coast to the Deep South, Freed’s photo essay culminated in the book Black in White America, which contributed to Freed's becoming one of the well-known documentary photographers of 20th Century America. After Freed’s death in 2006 his widow, Brigitte Freed was inspired to compile a book on the March on Washington from her late husband’s archive when she heard then-Senator former President Barack Obama remark to an audience of civil rights activists, “I stand here because you walked.” The March on Washington series is a powerful visual testimony, capturing protests that culminated in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream'' speech, delivered at the base of the Lincoln Memorial. Provenance: Freed archive. *** Artist’s Bio: Leonard Freed (1929-2006) was an American photographer from Brooklyn, New York. His "Black in White America" series made him known as a documentarian, a social documentary photographer. Freed worked as a freelance photographer from 1961 onwards and as a Magnum photographer Freed traveled widely abroad and, in the US, photographing African Americans (1964-65), events in Israel (1967-68, 1973), and the New York City police department (1972-79). Freed's coverage of the American civil rights...
Category

1960s Contemporary Seydou Keïta Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Photographic Film, Silver Gelatin

Elizabeth Taylor, Black and White Portrait Photography of Hollywood Star 1950s
By Burt Glinn
Located in New york, NY
Photographing one of the most highly-paid actresses of the time, Glinn captures a candid portrait of Elizabeth Taylor, at 27 years old, who was a star from age 12. Elizabeth Taylor, ...
Category

1950s Contemporary Seydou Keïta Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin, Photographic Paper, Photographic Film

Helen Frankenthaler, Painter in the Studio, Photograph of Woman Artist 1950s
By Burt Glinn
Located in New york, NY
A portrait of Helen Frankenthaler (1925-2011) in her studio in New York. Glinn captures the celebrated artist, Frankenthaler, in the process of making art - surrounded by paint, mate...
Category

1950s Contemporary Seydou Keïta Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Helen Frankenthaler, Painter New York City, Photograph of Woman Artist in 1950s
By Burt Glinn
Located in New york, NY
A documentary portrait of Helen Frankenthaler (1925-2011) in her studio in New York in the 1950s. Frankenthaler has remained a major American woman artist and female force of nature ...
Category

1950s Contemporary Seydou Keïta Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Elsa Peretti, Silver Gelatin Print
By Jack Robinson
Located in Memphis, TN
Elsa Peretti was born in Florence, studied interior design and was a language teacher and ski instructor before becoming a model. Peretti settled in New York in 1968 and began a care...
Category

1970s Seydou Keïta Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film

Beauty Contest, Harlem, Black and White Photography of African American Fashion
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Beauty Contest, Harlem, 1963 by Leonard Freed is a 16" x 20" gelatin silver print, signed verso (on back) by the Freed estate. The image appears in Amer...
Category

1960s Contemporary Seydou Keïta Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Photographic Film, Silver Gelatin

Elizabeth Taylor, B & W Photograph of Glam Hollywood Star on the Beach 1950s
By Burt Glinn
Located in New york, NY
Elizabeth Taylor, 1959 by Burt Glinn is a black-and-white photograph shot on film a portrait of Elizabeth Taylor on the beach during the filming of the adaptation of Tennessee Willia...
Category

1950s Contemporary Seydou Keïta Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Kate #10, Vintage Black and White Photograph of Nude Yogini
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Kate #10, 2002 by Leonard Freed is an 8" x 10" hand printed. Signed by the photographer black and white photograph, stamped "vintage" by the Freed estate. Model and yogini Kate remai...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Seydou Keïta Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper

Maya Plisetskaya, Russian Ballerina, Black and White Photography of Dancer
By Roberta Fineberg
Located in New york, NY
Drawn to street photography, Roberta Fineberg visited Moscow for extended periods in 1989-1990, witnessing Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev's politics of "Glasnost/Perestroika" ("Openness"). The celebrated Soviet dancer Maya Plisetskaya...
Category

1980s Contemporary Seydou Keïta Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film

World Series Win, New York City, Black and White Baseball Photography 1950s
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
World Series Win, New York City, 1954 by Leonard Freed, is a 14" x 11" gelatin silver later ("lifetime") print, signed on verso (back of print) by the ...
Category

1950s Contemporary Seydou Keïta Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Photographic Film, Silver Gelatin

Berlin, Germany, African-American Soldier in Europe And Civil Rights Photography
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Berlin, Germany, 1961 by Leonard Freed, is a 14" x 11" gelatin silver print, signed and stamped on verso (back of photo) by the estate, by Brigitte Freed (wife of the photographer). The photograph of an African-American soldier...
Category

1960s Contemporary Seydou Keïta Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Photographic Film, Silver Gelatin

Mr. Harlem, Photograph of African American Life New York City 1960s
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
The image capturing African-American life in Harlem in the 1960s, Mr. Harlem, 1963 by Leonard Freed, is a 14” x 11” black-and-white photograph from the photographer's book Black in W...
Category

1960s Contemporary Seydou Keïta Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Photographic Film, Silver Gelatin

Seydou Keïta photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Seydou Keïta photography available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Seydou Keïta in film, paper, photographic film and more. Not every interior allows for large Seydou Keïta photography, so small editions measuring 20 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Norman Parkinson, Helen Levitt, and Cecil Beaton. Seydou Keïta photography prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $8,500 and tops out at $8,500, while the average work can sell for $8,500.

Recently Viewed

View All