Robert Mapplethorpe
Born 1946 in New York, Robert Mapplethorpe studied art, film and photography at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in the 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became a prominent photographer in the New York art scene. His work ranged across several genres: spare, elegant still lifes of flowers and statutes; celebrity and art world portaits; and powerfully erotic male nudes, often with leather and S/M imagery. During the Reagan-era culture wars, Mapplethorpe became a lightning rod for right-wing bluster against degenerate art. He died from AIDS in 1989.
ORGANIZATIONS
The official website of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation features a biography, FAQ, list of upcoming exhibitions, seventy thumbnailed photographs, an online store for Mapplethorpe merchandise, and information on the Foundation's work.
Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation
ARTICLES
Masters of Photography has three articles on Mapplethorpe available online, including pieces by Arthur Danto and Richard Marshall.
Masters of Photography
Deborah Levinson reviews both the political furor over Mapplethorpe's work and the work itself, on the occasion of a Washington Project for the Arts exhibition. "So the question remains: Is The Perfect Moment worth all the hype and controversy? Absolutely. The exhibit is a retrospective of a brilliant photographer's work, ranging from his famous Lisa Lyons series and portraits of New York celebrities, to his starkly sexual flowers and images of the gay community."
The Tech (Aug 1990)
Nice profile of Robert Mapplethorpe under the heading "1980s heroism." The end of the article discusses the work of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, set up by the artist the year before he died to support AIDS research and arts programs.
Heroism.org
Christopher Chapman reviews an exhibition of Robert Mapplethorpe's
Polaroids from the 1970s.
Globe E
Modern Painters has an article entitled "Robert Mapplethorpe: Squandering Beauty," with the subheading: "Looking beyond the scandals, Lisa Jardine considers whether the 'bad boy' produced 'good art'"
Modern Painters (1996)
GALLERIES
Great directory at Orazio Centaro links to
dozens of Mapplethorpe photos on the web.
Orazio Centaro
This Irish site has a handful of Mapplethorpe photographs with short commentaries from a 1996 retrospective in Dublin.
Slideshow of Mapplethorpe photos (follow the black arrow at lower right of each image).
Masters of Photography
The Guggenheim Collection has three Mapplethorpe photos online.
Guggenheim Collection
This class project site reprints four thumbnailed Mapplethorpe photos, including a portrait of Cindy Sherman.
Annenberg School
Robert Mapplethorpe's portrait of Lucy Ferry, presented here as an example of "good art."
Brian Yoder's Art Gallery and Critic's Corner
