© Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation
On view
Photography
Self-Portrait,
1972
Robert Mapplethorpe, 1946–1989; born Floral Park, NY; died Boston, MA; active New York, NY
1997-448
While studying drawing, painting, and sculpture at the Pratt Institute in New York, Mapplethorpe began making collages that incorporate photographs. The Polaroid camera’s ability to print a photograph almost instantaneously created a new immediacy between the experience of taking a photograph and seeing the image. Here, Mapplethorpe welcomes the viewer into his creative process, contorting his body while shooting with a Polaroid camera. His nudity and direct engagement with the viewer elicit a sense of erotic tension and intimacy.
Information
Title
Self-Portrait
Dates
1972
Maker
Medium
Photo silkscreen
Dimensions
images: 83.8 × 58.4 cm (33 × 23 in.)
frame: 104 × 76.2 × 3.7 cm (40 15/16 × 30 × 1 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, anonymous gift
Object Number
1997-448
Inscription
Inscribed in graphite, recto lower left below bottom self-portrait: 6/40
Signed in graphite, recto lower right below bottom self-portrait: Robert Mapplethorpe '72
Sotheby's labels affixed verso upper and lower left.
Culture
Type
Subject
The artist. [Sotheby’s, New York, Photographs, October 8, 1997, sale 7024, Lot 455]; purchased via the above sale by the Princeton University Art Museum, October 1997.
