After 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."
1980 Gelatin silver print. 35.2 x 35.6 cm (13 7/8 x 14 in.) Signed, dated by Michael Ward Stout, Executor, in ink, titled, dated, numbered 9/15 in an unidentified hand in pencil, copyright credit reproduction limitation and signature stamp on the reverse of the flush-mount.
Estimate £4,000 - 6,000
Contact Specialist Lou Proud
Head of Photographs
London
+ 44 207 318 4018
