On this day, November 4th in 1946, noted and often controversial American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe was born in the Floral Park neighborhood of Queens in New York City. Perhaps best-remembered for his homoerotic imagery, Mapplethorpe's subject matter focused on statuesque male and female nudes, delicate flower still lifes, and highly formal portraits of artists and celebrities, mostly in black and white.
His portraits of Patti Smith, Philip Glass, Peter Gabriel, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Louise Bourgeois, and bodybuilder Lisa Lyon, among many others, have become iconic. Perhaps the most notable controversy related to Mapplethorpe centers on his 1989 exhibition, Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in DC and the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, which sparked heated debates about obscenity and the use of public funds to display such works. The Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center was even brought to trial on charges of obscenity, but was exonerated by a jury. Robert Mapplethorpe died in 1989 at age 42 due to complications from HIV/AIDS.
The images shown here come from several publications held in Special Collections:
Robert Mapplethorpe by Peter Weiermair, published in Frankfurt am by Frankfurter Kunstverein in 1981.
Robert Mapplethorpe by Richard Marshall, with essays by Richard Howard and Ingrid Sischy, published in New York by the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1988.
Some Women by Robert Mapplethorpe, with an introduction by Joan Didion, published in Boston by Boston : Bulfinch Press, 1989 in 1989.
Pictures: Robert Mapplethorpe edited and designed by Dimitri Levas, published by Arena Editions in 1999.
Click or tap on the Alt attribute for each image to see a description.
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