251
Robert Mapplethorpe
Z Portfolio
- Estimate
- $35,000 - 45,000
$52,500
Lot Details
Washington, D.C.: Harry Lunn; New York: Robert Miller, 1981.Thirteen selenium toned gelatin silver prints.
Each 7 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (19.1 x 19.1 cm)
Each signed, numbered 18/25 in ink with a sequentially numbered '1-13' blindstamp on the mount. Colophon signed, dated, numbered '18' in ink, essay by Edmund White, plate list and stone paper interleaving. Contained in a gilt stamped brown silk clamshell portfolio case. One from an edition of 25 plus 6 lettered artist's proof.
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Provenance
Literature
Robert Mapplethorpe
American | B. 1946 D. 1989After studying drawing, painting and sculpture at the Pratt Institute in the 1960s, Robert Mapplethorpe began experimenting with photography while living in the notorious Chelsea Hotel with Patti Smith. Beginning with Polaroids, he soon moved on to a Hasselblad medium-format camera, which he used to explore aspects of life often only seen behind closed doors.By the 1980s Mapplethorpe's focus was predominantly in the studio, shooting portraits, flowers and nudes. His depiction of the human form in formal compositions reflects his love of classical sculpture and his groundbreaking marriage of those aesthetics with often challenging subject matter. Mapplethorpe's style is present regardless of subject matter — from erotic nudes to self-portraits and flowers — as he ceaselessly strove for what he called "perfection of form."
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