Robert Mapplethorpe
| Robert Mapplethorpe | |
|---|---|
Self-Portrait, 1980
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| Born |
November 4, 1946 Floral Park, New York, U.S. |
| Died | March 9, 1989 (aged 42) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Pratt Institute |
| Known for | Photography |
| Website | mapplethorpe |
| Patron(s) | Sam Wagstaff |
Robert Mapplethorpe (/ˈmeɪpəlˌθɔːrp/; November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, known for his sensitive yet blunt treatment of controversial subject-matter in the large-scale, highly stylized black and white medium of photography. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-portraits and still-life images of flowers. His most controversial work is that of the underground BDSM scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s of New York City. The homoeroticism of this work fuelled a national debate over the public funding of controversial artwork.
Mapplethorpe was born in Floral Park, Queens, New York City, the son of Joan Dorothy (Maxey) and Harry Irving Mapplethorpe, an electrical engineer. He was of English, Irish, and German descent, and grew up as a Roman Catholic in Our Lady of the Snows Parish. He had five brothers and sisters. He studied for a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he majored in Graphic Arts, though he dropped out in 1969 before finishing his degree. Mapplethorpe lived with his close friend Patti Smith from 1967 to 1972, and she supported him by working in bookstores. They created art together, and maintained a close relationship.
Mapplethorpe took his first photographs in the late 1960s or early 1970s using a Polaroid camera. In 1972 he met art curator Sam Wagstaff who would become his mentor and lifetime companion. In the mid-1970s Wagstaff acquired a Hasselblad medium-format camera and Mapplethorpe began taking photographs of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, including artists, composers, and socialites. During this time, he became friends with New Orleans artist George Dureau, whose work had a profound impact on Mapplethorpe, so much so that he restaged many of Dureau's early photographs. From 1977 until 1980, Mapplethorpe was the lover of writer and Drummer magazine editor Jack Fritscher who introduced him to Mineshaft.
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