ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE
b. 1946 (Floral Park, NY) - 1989 (Boston, MA)
1970 BFA, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY in Painting and Sculpture
SELECTED WORKS
BIOGRAPHY
Initially experimenting with various materials in mixed-media collages, American artist Robert Mapplethorpe increasingly focused his artistic practice on Polaroid photography and mounted his first solo gallery exhibition, Polaroids, in 1973 at the Light Gallery in New York City. Two years later, he turned to a Hasselblad medium-format camera and began shooting his circle of friends and acquaintances—artists, musicians, socialites, pornographic film stars, and members of the S & M underground.
In the late 70s, Mapplethorpe became increasingly focused on documenting the New York S & M scene. The resulting photographs are shocking for their content and remarkable for their technical and formal mastery. In 1977, he participated in Documenta 6 in Kassel, West Germany, and in 1978, Robert Miller Gallery became his exclusive dealer. During the 80s, Mapplethorpe produced a series of photographs that simultaneously challenge and adhere to classical aesthetic standards: stylized compositions of male and female nudes, delicate flower still lifes, and studio portraits of artists and celebrities, for instance. He also introduced and refined different techniques and formats, including color 20" x 24" Polaroids, photogravures, platinum prints on paper and linen, Cibachrome and dye transfer color prints.
In 1986, Mapplethorpe was diagnosed with AIDS. Despite his illness, he accelerated his creative efforts, broadened the scope of his photographic inquiry, and accepted increasingly challenging commissions. The Whitney Museum of American Art mounted his first major American museum retrospective in 1988, one year before his death in 1989.
His vast, provocative, and powerful body of work has established him as one of the most important artists of the twentieth century. Today, Mapplethorpe is represented by galleries in North and South America and Europe and his work can be found in the collections of major museums around the world, such as the Art Institute of Chicago; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Modern Art; Centre Pompidou, Paris; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Tate Modern, London; Whitney Museum of American Art, and many others. In 1988, he established the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation to promote photography, support museums that exhibit photographic art, and to fund medical research in the fight against AIDS and HIV-related infection.
2010 - present
2010 - present
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2014
2013
2012-2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005-2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1979
1978
1976
1974
1973
Robert Mapplethorpe, Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
ARTIST ROOMS Robert Mapplethorpe, Tate Modern, London, UK
Mapplethorpe / Rodin, Musee Rodin, Paris, France
Robert Mapplethorpe, Grand Palais, Paris, France
Robert Mapplethorpe: Saints and Sinners, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY
Robert Mapplethorpe: Fashion Show, Alison Jacques Gallery, London, UK
Robert Mapplethorpe, curated by Isabelle Huppert, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
Robert Mapplethorpe: Fetish, Galerie Stefan Roepke, Cologne, Germany
Robert Mapplethorpe: Au Début, Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium
Robert Mapplethorpe, Galleria Franco Noero, Turin, Italy
Robert Mapplethorpe: Works from 1980 to 1989, Galería Elvira González, Madrid, Spain
Robert Mapplethorpe, Baldwin Gallery, Aspen, CO
Robert Mapplethorpe: Flowers, Seibu, Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan
Robert Mapplethorpe, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto, Canada
In Focus: Robert Mapplethorpe, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Robert Mapplethorpe: XYZ, LACMA Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Robert Mapplethorpe, Galeria Senda, Barcelona, Spain
Mapplethorpe: Pure, Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland
Robert Mapplethorpe, Forma Foundation for Photography, Milan, Italy
Robert Mapplethorpe, curated by Sophia Coppola, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
Robert Mapplethorpe, Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hungary
In Focus: Robert Mapplethorpe, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Naked Before the Camera, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (group)
50 Americans, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY
Blossoming, curated by Klaus Kertess, Texas Gallery, Houston, TX
Robert Mapplethorpe: Portraits, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Robert Mapplethorpe, C/O Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Robert Mapplethorpe, Fondazione FORMA per la Fotografía, Milan, Italy
Robert Mapplethorpe, Onassis Cultural Centre, Athens, Greece
Robert Mapplethorpe, i8 Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland
Robert Mapplethorpe, Fotografiska, Stockholm, Sweden
Robert Mapplethorpe, Galerie Stefan Röpke, Cologne, Germany
HIDE/SEEK: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY (group)
Robert Mapplethorpe, NRW-Forum Kunst und Wirtschaft, Dusseldorf, Germany
Robert Mapplethorpe: Perfection in Form, Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, Italy
Robert Mapplethorpe: A Season in Hell, Alison Jacques Gallery, London, UK
Robert Mapplethorpe, Photography with Sculpture, Towner Museum, Eastbourne, UK
Robert Mapplethorpe, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Horses, Baldwin Gallery, Aspen, CO
Robert Mapplethorpe, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, United Kingdom
Robert Mapplethorpe, Museo de Arte Latinoamerican de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Robert Mapplethorpe, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Robert Mapplethorpe: Perfection in Form, Museu d’Arte della Citta di Lugano, Lugano, Switzerland
Robert Mapplethorpe, Gallery Gio Marconi, Milan, Italy
The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture, 1839 to Today, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (group)
Portraits: Robert Mapplethorpe, Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, AZ
Polaroids: Mapplethorpe, Modern Art, Oxford, UK
Robert Mapplethorpe, CAC Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, Málaga, Spain
Polaroids: Mapplethorpe, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA
Polaroids and Silver Prints by Robert Mapplethorpe, Galerie Stefan Ropke,Cologne, Germany
Robert Mapplethorpe: A Season in Hell, Alison Jacques Gallery, London, England
Robert Mapplethorpe, Galeria Fortes Vilaça, São Paulo, Brazil
Robert Mapplethorpe, Es Baluard Museu d’Art Modern I Contemporani de Palma, Mallorca, Spain
Robert Mapplethorpe: Women, Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Robert Mapplethorpe, Black, White and Silver, Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
Robert Mapplethorpe, TR3 Gallery and National Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia
The Portrait. Photography as a Stage: From Robert Mapplethorpe to Nan Goldin, Kunsthalle Wien, Wien, Germany (group)
Polaroids: Mapplethorpe, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Robert Mapplethorpe - Works 1975-1988, Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland
Photography on Photography: Reflections on the Medium since 1960, Metropolitan Museum, New York, NY
Robert Mapplethorpe: Certain People, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York
Robert Mapplethorpe, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Robert Mapplethorpe: 50 New York Artists and Other Portraits, Baldwin Gallery, Aspen, CO
Into Me / Out of Me, KW - Kunstwerke Berlin, Berlin, Germany and Museo d´Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy (group)
Martin Maloney, Robert Mapplethorpe, Jack Pierson, Galerie Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium (group)
Family Pictures, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY (group)
Robert Mapplethorpe: Still Moving & Lady, with photographs by Judy Linn, Alison Jacques Gallery, London, England (two-person)
Screening of Patti Smith/Still Moving, Tate Modern, London, England (group)
Robert Mapplethorpe, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
Robert Mapplethorpe, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Scotland
Robert Mapplethorpe: Lisa Lyon, Baldwin Gallery, Aspen, CO (group)
Mapplethorpe–Warhol: Celebrity Portraits, Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA and Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY (group)
Robert Mapplethorpe: Porträts und Erotik, Galerie im Alten Rathaus, Prien am Cheimsee, Germany and Stadtgalerie, Klagenfurt, Austria
Sacred and Profane: Robert Mapplethorpe, Fototeca de Cuba, Havana, Cuba
Robert Mapplethorpe, Alison Jacques Gallery, London, England
Mapplethorpe’s Rooms, Stella Kay Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Robert Mapplethorpe, Galeria Fortes Vilaça, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Mapplethorpe Neoclassical, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY
Robert Mapplethorpe: Flowers, Galleri Skarsktedt, Stockholm, Sweden
Robert Mapplethorpe, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Robert Mapplethorpe: Tra Antico e Moderno - Un’antologia, Pallazzina della Promotrice delle Belle Arti, Turin, Italy
Robert Mapplethorpe, Galerie Thaddeus Ropac, Paris, France
Robert Mapplethorpe: Still Life Portraits, Thomasville Cultural Center, Thomasville, GA
Robert Mapplethorpe: Black Nude Men, Galeria Senda Espai 292, Barcelona, Spain
The World of Robert Mapplethorpe, Kunst Merano Arte, Merano, Italy
Robert Mapplethorpe: Self Portraits 1974-1988, Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Robert Mapplethorpe: Body Parts, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
Robert Mapplethorpe and the Classical Tradition: Photographs and Mannerist Prints, Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, Germany
Eye to Eye: Robert Mapplethorpe selected by Cindy Sherman, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY
Robert Mapplethorpe, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Robert Mapplethorpe: Sculptures and hand painted photographs, asperyjacques, London, England
Robert Mapplethorpe Retrospective, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sapporo, Japan
Galerie Thaddäus Ropac- Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
Senior & Shopmaker, New York, NY
Stefan Röpke, Cologne, Germany
Cheim & Read, New York, NY
Aktionsforum Praterinsel, Munich, Germany
Fifty One Fine Art Photography, Antwerp, Belgium
Hamiltons Gallery, London, England
Andrea Rosen, New York, NY
Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin, Germany
Karen Mc Cready Fine Art, New York, NY
Cheim & Read, New York, NY
Houldsworth Fine Art, London, England
Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium
Konfrontation: Mapplethorpe/Palavrakis, Galerie Stefan Röpke Cologne, Germany
Sex and Crime, Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany
Robert Mapplethorpe Polaroids, Galerie Stefan Röpke, Cologne, Germany
Faces: 1975-1995, Pelham Arts Center, Pelham, NY
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan (traveled)
Fashion Photography Since 1945, Victoria and Albert Museum London, England
The Indomitable Spirit, International Center of Photography, Midtown NY (catalog, traveled)
150 Years of Photography, National Art Gallery, Washington, DC (catalog, traveled)Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA (catalog, traveled)
National Portrait Gallery, London, EnglandIdentity: Representations of the Self, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NYRobert Mapplethorpe, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsFirst Person Singular: Self Portrait Photography, The High Museum at Georgia-Pacific Center, Atlanta, GA
Invitation: La Revue Parkett, Centre Nat'l d'Art & de Culture Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Self-Portrait: The Photographer's Persona 1840-1985, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
The Heroic Figure, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX
New Art, Tate Gallery, London, England
Robert Mapplethorpe 1970-1983, Institute of Contemporary Art, London, UK
Counterparts: Form and Emotion in Photographs, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
People Watching, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
International Center of Photography, New York, NY
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Animals, Holly Solomon Gallery, New York, NY
Recent Religious and Ritual Art, Buecker and Harpsichords, New York, NY
Polaroids, Light Gallery, New York, NY
Public Collections
Tampa Museum of Art
Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, Minnesota
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Museum Ludwig, Cologne, West Germany
Museum of Art, Norman, Oklahoma
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
Museum of Modern Art, New York
National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
National Portrait Gallery, London
New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana
Portland Center of the Visual Art, California
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, West Germany
Getty Museum, Malibu, California
Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia
International Center of Photography, New York
La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, California
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Madison Art Center, Wisconsin
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Australian National Gallery, Canberra, Australia
Bank of America Collection, San Francisco, California
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Massachusetts
Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine
Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Chase Manhattan Bank Collection, New York
Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Virginia
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, West Germany
Portrait Gallery of Canada, Ontario, Canada
Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL