Baptême chez Jafuna

ca. 1968

Not on view

In the decades before and after Mali achieved independence from France in 1960, Sidibé operated a highly regarded commercial photography studio in the capital city of Bamako and made thousands of portraits for a burgeoning middle class. His work first came to the attention of the art world in 1995, when the Paris-based Fondation Cartier exhibited his lively images of Bamako youth taken at parties and Sunday picnics. This print of two women looking at a picture and a stylish young man directly addressing the camera—while all three are "nonchalantly" arranged in pyramidal composition—highlights the self-consciousness and skill with which Sidibé and his subjects represented themselves to the contemporary world.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Exhibition History

Title: Baptême chez Jafuna
Artist: Malick Sidibé (Malian, Soloba 1936–2016 Bamako)
Date: ca. 1968
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: 49.8 x 36.8 cm (19 5/8 x 14 1/2 in.)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2003
Object Number: 2003.161
Rights and Reproduction: © Estate of Malick Sidibé
Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

By Malick Sidibé

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Je veux être seule, Malick Sidibé Malian, Gelatin silver print — Je veux être seule
Malick Sidibé
1979

[Woman Standing Before Striped Background], Malick Sidibé Malian, Gelatin silver print — [Woman Standing Before Striped Background]
Malick Sidibé
1979

Qui danse le mieux

Malick Sidibé

1965, printed 1998

Les Freres et Soeurs

Malick Sidibé

1967

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