Robert Mapplethorpe - Photographs New York Monday, July 13, 2020 | Phillips
  • Literature

    Martineau and Salvesen, Robert Mapplethorpe: The Photographs, pl. 44
    Mapplethorpe, Pistils, p. 94

  • Artist Biography

    Robert Mapplethorpe

    American • 1946 - 1989

    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."

    View More Works

115

Carnation, N.Y.C.

1978
Gelatin silver print from the Y Portfolio.
7 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (19.1 x 19.1 cm)
Signed and numbered 14/25 in pencil on the mount.

Estimate
$1,500 - 2,500 

Sold for $4,750

Contact Specialist

Sarah Krueger
Head of Department, Photographs

Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Deputy Chairwoman, Americas

+212 940 1245
 

Photographs

New York Auction 13 July 2020