Photography
Robert Mapplethorpe, 1946 – 1989
Born in the borough of Queens, New York, to a practicing Catholic family.
Robert Mapplethorpe, self-portrait, 1975
Robert Mapplethorpe is an American photographer known for his sensitivity to controversial subjects in a stylized, black-and-white manner. His often controversial work featured a range of subjects, including celebrity portraits, nude men and women, self-portraits, and images of flowers. Provocative subjects with clear iconic language: the New York leather scene, male and female nudes, exploitation of graphic porn and sadomasochism, flowers with strong erotic connotations.
His most controversial work is that of the New York underground sadomasochism scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The homoeroticism reflected in his images fueled a national debate over public funding of controversial work in the 1980s.
His artistic output is rooted in the emerging gay rights movement. It was from this large, politically influential group that he was able to seek the financial support and influence necessary to establish his art and reputation.
It was also a time when New York City was in financial decline and under the influence of widespread corruption. Drug abuse and violence were rampant. It was the era of the great sexual revolution, the hippie movement. It was also the time of Andy Warhol's artistic revolution and the emergence of Pop Art. The city was the epicenter of major artistic movements around the world.
The announcement of his imminent death—he was diagnosed with HIV in 1986—played a decisive role in the crystallization of his personal style. Before dying, Mapplethorpe intended to definitively establish the stylistic thread that links all his favorite photographic genres: portraits, sexual images, and floral still lifes.
He is preparing to leave a genuine artistic legacy to posterity, through an original "trademark." In May 1988, he established a foundation whose mission, in addition to preserving his heritage, is to contribute to AIDS research and to support publications and exhibitions devoted to photography.
Spectacular self-portrait captured on his hospital bed a few months before his death with the help of his brother Edward in 1989
Youthful influence
Mapplethorpe received no formal training in photography. He studied advertising and graphic design at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. He sought to express himself through collage and drawing. He began using a Polaroid camera to fuel his creations in 1970. His goal was not to become a photographer, but to fuel his creations.
During this period, he met and became friends with New Orleans photographer George Dureau (1930–2014), whose work had a profound influence on Mapplethorpe. Dureau is known for documenting the human form.
Meeting with his patron Sam Wagstaff
In 1972, he met art curator Sam Wagstaff, who would become his mentor and lifelong companion. A pivotal encounter with this wealthy curator and art collector, he gave him his first Hasselblad to replace his Polaroid camera and offered him the financial support to allow him to concentrate on his art. He bought him a studio at 24 Bond Street, where he moved in to live and work.
Mapplethorpe began taking photographs of his circle of friends and acquaintances, including artists, composers, and socialites.
Robert Mapplethorpe and Samuel Wagstaff, 1974, The Perfect Moment
Meet Holly Solomon
As a gallery owner, his preliminary request in 1976, before agreeing to represent Mapplethorpe, was as follows: "I asked him to do my portrait. I was convinced that he was an excellent photographer and that he knew perfectly well how to manipulate people."
First exhibition in February 1977 in Solomon's gallery, which selected works acceptable to the New York clientele. In response to this selection and with the support of his patron, he produced a second exhibition on the same date but with a selection of more provocative images oriented towards sexuality.
Portrait of Holly Solomon by Robert Mapplethorpe, 1976
Mapplethorpe Quotes
“I am obsessed with beauty. I want everything to be perfect, and of course it isn't. And that's a tough place to be because you're never satisfied.”
“Sell the public flowers… things that they can hang on their walls without being uptight.”
“I don't know why my pictures come out looking so good. I just don't get it.”
“I recorded that because it happened to me. I wasn't making a point.”
Portraits of Patti Smith: 1967 to 1972
A youthful encounter with his muse, a beauty that goes against all fashionable forms of beauty, an androgynous look. Together, they assert themselves as artists and define their inspiration.
Image used for the album "Horses," his debut album. The record company refused to use the photo for a long time before finally accepting it.
Rolling Stone magazine later ranked this cover as the 26th best cover of all time.
Meeting with Lisa Lyon, 1979
“I felt like I was looking at a being from another planet.”
Member of "Gold's Gym" in Los Angeles, a mecca for male bodybuilding in the US
Iconic image, Lady Lisa Lyon, world bodybuilding champion, 1979. Tribute to the new woman, strong, aware of her body, physically strong, emerging from the circus ghetto.
A product of the 80s: ambitious, determined, determined to succeed, gifted with pragmatic intelligence.
1980s: a time of pursuit of success and money, of exaltation of power and fetishism of material happiness: the Dallas & Dynasty years.
"Break off all relationships with losers," Lyon recommends in his fitness program.
Portrait of bodybuilder Lisa Lyon
In search of a new aesthetic, in contrast to the 60s. Female bodybuilding has emerged from the circus ghetto, expressing the "new woman": conscious of her body, physically strong.
Allusion to the king of animals, untamed physical force
An image of mourning, influenced by the photographer's Catholic upbringing, with no other significance.
Mapplethorpe is obsessed with sex, with a strange relationship marked by repression and denial. Photography becomes an instrument of self-analysis to express his homosexuality. Formal rigor, cold appearance, gives an impression of solidity, inspired by his education in design.
Very marked sense of gesture: animality, natural, untamed physical strength
What do we see?
Profile portrait, a bust (framing), but not a traditional profile
First look: the arm with hardened muscles, with unretouched moles
Upright position, looking directly ahead (like in court photos)
Well-defined lips. Face and eyes darkened by the veil
A hat studded with artificial flowers contrasts with the shiny black bustier, suggesting erotic solicitation.
Does not betray any expression
Arms with hardened muscles, beauty spots. Harmonious proportions, superb confidence.
Mapplethorpe's creative cycle on Lisa Lyon is rightly considered his most important work. Between 1980 and 1982, he produced a total of 117 black and white photographs, mostly in square format.
Duo Portraits with Ken Moody and Robert Sherman
Exercise the style and iconic photos:
Portraits with celebrities
Throughout his years of production, Mapplethorpe was approached to create portraits of celebrities. His unique perspective was sought. A typical session consisted of taking between 100 and 200 shots.
He planned his work before the meeting and could produce sketches. From these shots, he would choose 1 or 2 images without ever presenting or discussing the production of the other shots or the reason for his choice. He was known for being uncommunicative during photo sessions and limited himself to giving minimal instructions.
The Corcoran Gallery controversy
In the summer of 1989, Mapplethorpe presented a solo exhibition that sparked controversy over the issue of public funding of the arts, as well as issues of censorship and obscenity.
The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, had agreed to be one of the host museums for the exhibition. Mapplethorpe had decided to show his last collection, which he had produced during the last months of his life.
The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) had received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to present the exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. The museum decided to withdraw from the controversy by canceling the exhibition.
Several members of the U.S. Congress were upset by the selection of works due to their sadomasochistic and homoerotic themes. Many conservative and religious organizations, such as the American Family Association, have vocally opposed the public funding used to present obscene material.
In June 1989, pop artist Blair Lowell Nesbitt became involved in the censorship issue. Nesbitt, a longtime friend of Mapplethorpe, donated $1.5 million to the museum, but publicly promised that if the museum refused to host the exhibition, he would rescind the donation. The Corcoran refused, and Nesbitt bequeathed the money to the Phillips Collection instead.
The money was donated to the Washington Project for the Arts. The exhibition was presented from July 21 to August 13, 1989, to large crowds. In 1990, the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati and Dennis Barrie were charged with obscenity. They were acquitted by a jury.
The Corcoran's decision sparked a national controversy: Should taxpayer money support the arts? Who decides what is “obscene” or “offensive” in public exhibitions? And if art can be considered a form of free speech, is it a violation of the First Amendment to revoke federal funding on the grounds of obscenity?
Mapplethorpe remains a cause célèbre in this discussion. However, the prices of many of his photographs have doubled and even tripled as a result of all the media attention.
What to think of the pornographic dimension of Mapplethorpe's work?
Mapplethorpe's work and life are inseparable.
Her multiple relationships with men served to fuel her erotic art. This approach has been seen as an effort to dissociate herself from her Catholic influence and assert herself as an integral artist.
Many parallels have been drawn between Mapplethorpe's pornographic output and Catholic martyrology from the Inquisition period. The illustration of the sexual dimension of the tortures imposed on heretics is surely a fertile source of inspiration for anyone interested in pornography.
Martyrology of the Inquisition Period
Reference
Mapplethorpe Exhibition, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts: first major retrospective of his work in North America.
The Perfect Medium: Finding Robert Mapplethorpe