© Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation
Currently not on view
Peter Reed, New York City,
1980
Robert Mapplethorpe, 1946–1989; born Floral Park, NY; died Boston, MA; active New York, NY
x1993-213
Mapplethorpe masterfully employed poses inspired by classical sculpture and artful lighting to transform bodies—human or plant—into formally exacting, elegant compositions of light and shadow. Harnessing art historical traditions for depicting nudes, Mapplethorpe here presents the twists, bends, and sinuous musculature of the male form as a study of ideal beauty that invites a sensual gaze and self-assuredly states the artist’s homoerotic desire. Standard in ancient Greece, the artist’s emphasis on the male body, and in particular black bodies, was radical for the era; this as well as his more overtly sexualized images made him a central target of the 1980s congressional debate about federal funding for the arts.
Information
Title
Peter Reed, New York City
Dates
1980
Maker
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 35.6 x 35.5 cm. (14 x 14 in.)
sheet: 50.5 x 40.4 cm. (19 7/8 x 15 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of James Kraft, Class of 1957
Object Number
x1993-213
Place Made
North America, United States, New York, New York
Inscription
Signed, dated, and numbered in ink, lower right: Robert Mapelthorpe '80
In ink, lower left: 2//15
In ink, verso lower left corner: #522 PETER REED N.Y.C. 1980
Marks/Labels/Seals
Stamp, verso lower center: ©1980 [inscribed in ink] ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE / THIS
PHOTOGRAPH MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED / WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION / BY PHOTOGRAPHER Robert Mapplethorpe [signed in ink]
Culture
Techniques
Subject
