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    © 2016 ROBERT MILLER GALLERY     NEW YORK, NY     t212.366.4774   

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    ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE

     

    b. 1946 (Floral Park, NY) - 1989 (Boston, MA)

     

    1970    BFA, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY in Painting and Sculpture

     

     

    <<back to all artists

    SELECTED WORKS

     

     

    SELECTED WORKS

    BIOGRAPHY

    SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

    LEARN MORE

    Calla Lily
    Calla Lily
    1984
    Gelatin silver print
    20 x 16 inches (50.8 x 40.6 centimeters)
    Hermes
    Hermes
    1988
    Gelatin silver print
    Edition 9/10
    24 x 20 inches (61 x 50.8 centimeters)
    Self Portrait
    Self Portrait
    1985
    Gelatin silver print
    Edition 1/10
    20 x 16 inches (50.8 x 40.6 centimeters)
    Lydia
    Lydia
    1985
    Gelatin silver print
    Edition 1/10
    20 x 16 inches (50.8 x 40.6 centimeters)
    Show More
     
    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

     

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    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