Robert Michael Mapplethorpe ( ; November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-portraits, and still-life images. His most controversial works documented and examined the gay male BDSM subculture of New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Mapplethorpe is said to have drawn inspiration from George Dureau, an American black and white photographer ten years his senior, who composed shots of fully nude African American and disabled men, in his home city of New Orleans.

Mapplethorpe's 1989 exhibition, Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment, sparked a debate in the United States concerning both use of public funds for "obscene" artwork and the Constitutional limits of free speech in the United States.

Early life and education

thumb|Mapplethorpe's studio at 24 [[Bond Street (Manhattan)|Bond Street in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, which he later used as a darkroom.]]

thumb|Mapplethorpe's romantic partner and lifelong friend [[Patti Smith]]

Mapplethorpe was born in the Floral Park neighborhood of Queens, New York City, the son of Joan Dorothy (Maxey) and Harry Irving Mapplethorpe, an electrical engineer. His body was cremated. His ashes are interred at St. John's Cemetery, Queens in New York City, at his mother's gravesite, etched "Maxey".

In May 2026, Troye Sivan attended the Met Gala in an outfit inspired by Mapplethorpe's fashion style.

Art market

In 2017, a 1987 Mapplethorpe self-portrait platinum print was auctioned for £450,000,

See also

  • Dirty Pictures
  • George Dureau, an American photographer of fully nude African American and disabled men in his home city of New Orleans, whose work was described as having inspired Mapplethorpe.; Forma Foundation for Photography, Milan (2011); Ludwig Museum, Budapest (2012).

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Further reading

  • Marshall, Richard; Howard, Richard; Sischy, Ingrid. Robert Mapplethorpe. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art in association with New York Graphic Society Books, 1988.
  • Veith, Gene Edward. State of the arts: from Bezalel to Mapplethorpe. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991.
  • Ellenzweig, Allen. The homoerotic photograph: male images from Durieu/Delacroix to Mapplethorpe. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992.
  • Fritscher, Jack. Mapplethorpe: Assault with a Deadly Camera: A Pop Culture Memoir, An Outlaw Reminiscence. Mamaroneck, NY: Hastings House, 1994.
  • Fritscher, Jack. "What Happened When: Censorship, Gay History & Mapplethorpe", in Censorship: A World Encyclopedia, ed. Derek Jones, Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001, . Retrieved September 2, 2014
  • Jarzombek, Mark. "The Mapplethorpe trial and the paradox of its formalist and liberal defense: sights of contention." AppendX 2:58–81, Spring 1994.
  • Morrisroe, Patricia. Robert Mapplethorpe: a biography. New York: Random House, 1995.
  • Danto, Arthur C. Playing with the edge: the photographic achievement of Robert Mapplethorpe. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.
  • Banham, Gary. "Mapplethorpe, Duchamp and the ends of photography". Angelaki 7(1):119–128, 2002.
  • Smith, Patti. Just Kids. New York: Ecco, 2010.
  • Curley, Mallory. A Cookie Mueller Encyclopedia. Randy Press, 2010.
  • Gefter, Philip. Wagstaff: Before and After Mapplethorpe. NY: Liveright, 2014.
  • Exhibit at the Xavier Hufkens gallery
  • 26 Photos: Mapplethorpe, Photography and Sculpture
  • Encyclopædia Britannica