Often overshadowed by the discourse surrounding his more confrontational imagery, Robert Mapplethorpe’s flower studies remain a crucial aspect of his oeuvre and artistic legacy. In 1978, Mapplethorpe chose thirteen of his best flower images for the Y Portfolio. This portfolio took the central place within his suite of three lettered portfolios: X Portfolio, which featured his controversial images of sadomasochistic sex; and Z Portfolio, of African-American male nude studies, including the notorious Man in Polyester Suit. The photographs in Y Portfolio, with their exquisitely captured floral subject matter, provide an interlude between the more provocative images of X and Z. Yet, Mapplethorpe viewed and treated his varying subjects the same. Throughout his career, he was fascinated with the convergence of formal beauty, transgression, pleasure, and the duality of masculinity and femininity. In Y Portfolio, the thirteen beautifully-rendered images of flowers encapsulate these fascinations. Regardless of his subject matter, Mapplethorpe composed his images with a classicist’s eye and a perfectionist’s attention to the craft of photography.

Titles include:
Tulips, N.Y.C., 1977; Iris's, N.Y.C., 1977; Amaryllis, Paris, 1977; Tuberose, N.Y.C., 1977; Buds (Lily), N.Y.C., 1977; Lily, N.Y.C., 1977; Rose, N.Y.C., 1977; Orchid, N.Y.C., 1977; Chrysanthemum, N.Y.C., 1977; Baby's Breath, N.Y.C., 1978; Kale, N.Y.C., 1978; Gardenia, N.Y.C., 1978; Carnation, N.Y.C., 1978