Robert Mapplethorpe

This is a collection, by photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, of images of black men. Some are nude, some rude and others explicitly erotic. In miniature format, the collection presents one of Mapplethorpe's most controversial and accomplished portfolios.

Black Book

Sylvia Wolf

Robert Mapplethorpe's black-and-white Polaroid photographs of the 1970s--a medium in which he established the style that would bring him international acclaim--are brought together in this new paperback edition. Critically praised for his finely modeled and classically composed photographs, Robert Mapplethorpe remains intensely controversial and enormously popular. This book brings together almost 300 images from the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation's archive and private collections to provide a critical view of Mapplethorpe's formative years as an artist, revealing the themes that would inspire Mapplethorpe throughout his career. Included is a selection of color Polaroids and objects incorporating his early "instant" photography. Some images convey a disarming tenderness and vulnerability, others a toughness and immediacy that would give way in later years to more classical form. The author traces the development of Mapplethorpe's use of instant photography over a period of five years, from 1970 to 1975, when the artist worked mainly in this medium. The images include self-portraits; figure studies; still lifes; portraits of lovers and friends such as Patti Smith, Sam Wagstaff, and Marianne Faithful; and observations of everyday objects. Marked by a spontaneity and creative curiosity, these fragile images offer an illuminating contrast to the glossy perfection of the work for which Mapplethorpe is best known, allowing us a more personal glimpse of his artistry.

Mapplethorpe

Polaroids

Arthur Coleman Danto

This definitive overview of Mapplethorpe's black-and-white photography is once again available in a new, updated version.

Known primarily for his refined aesthetic, Mapplethorpe's classical portraits, nudes, and still lifes, help redefine photography as an art form at a time when the medium was floundering. "Pictures" dispenses with the intellectual, political, and religious rhetoric surrounding earlier debates, allowing the photographs to speak on their own terms. 100 duotone photos.

Pictures

David Joselit

Kay Larson

Janet Kardon

The Perfect Moment

Photographs from each period of the artist's career include portraits, flower still lifes, nudes, and images of sexual sadomasochism

The Early Works (Art Magazine Series)

The acclaimed portrait photographer presents a photographic study celebrating the contemporary Black male

Germano Celant

Jan Fabre

Institute of Contemporary Arts (London, England)

The Power of Theatrical Madness

Gordon Baldwin

Daniel Cornell

Portraits

A collection of black & white, clothed, unclothed, faces, duets, singles photographs of known and unknown women looking at the camera

Some Women

Mapplethorpe presents an astonishing photographic study of black men today. In their diversity, impact, erotic appeal and deep humanity, these photographs constitute a stunning celebration of the contemporary black male. Black-and-white photos throughout.

Robert Mapplethorpe

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