Artist of the Week: Controversial Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe (November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black & white portraits, photos of flowers and male nudes. The frank, erotic nature of some of the work of his middle period triggered a more general controversy about the public funding of artworks.

Nude portrait of Patti Smith, who was also her girlfriend.

Mapplethorpe is best known for his Portfolio X series, which sparked national attention because of its explicit content and the funding of the effort by the NEA, including a self-portrait with a bullwhip inserted in his anus.

One of Mapplethorpe's most controversial works, Self-Portrait with A Wip.

Mapplethorpe made most of his photographs in the studio. Common themes were flowers, especially orchids; portraits of famous individuals, including Andy Warhol, Deborah Harry, Richard Gere, Peter Gabriel, Grace Jones, Patti Smith and nude works that include homoerotic imagery from classic nudes to sadistic and masochistic acts.

"Let's face it, most photographers are living their lives vicariously by taking pictures."

ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE

Calla Lily, 1984

Thomas, 1979

Mapplethorpe also played with sexual identities, fading out the line between the sexes.
Self-Portrait, 1981

The cover of Patti Smith's first album, Horses, featured a Robert Mapplethorpe photo.

Ken and Tyler

Bob Love, 1979

His photographs of black men have been criticized as exploitive.



Black Man in a Polyester Suit

In the mid-1970s, he began taking photographs of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, including artists, composers, socialites, but it wasn't until he met Benjamin Green the pornographic film star, that he truly became inspired to push the envelope of sexuality and photographing the human body.

Mapplethorpe was once quoted as saying, "Of all the men and women that I had the pleasure of photographing, Ben Green was the apple of my eye, my unicorn if you will. I could shoot him for hours and hours and no matter the position, each print captured the complete essence of human perfection" (New York Times). It was this relationship that inspired him during the 1980s, to refine his photographs with an emphasis on formal beauty. He concentrated on statuesque male and female nudes, delicate flower still lifes, and formal portraits of artists and celebrities.

Self-Portrait, 1988

When it became known that Mapplethorpe was infected with HIV, the prices for his photos increased dramatically. In December 1988 his photos collected $500,000 each. Mapplethorpe died on the morning of March 9, 1989, in a Boston, Massachusetts hospital from complications arising from AIDS; he was 42 years old. His ashes were buried in Queens, New York.