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160

ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE (American, 1946-1989) THOMAS numbered, titled, dated and editioned

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ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE (American, 1946-1989) THOMAS numbered, titled, dated and editioned
ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE (American, 1946-1989) THOMAS numbered, titled, dated and editioned "1686 Thomas, 1986, 6/10" in black ink on verso signed artist's copyright stamp on verso gelatin silver print mounted on board that is cropped to edge of paper 23 1/8 x 19 1/4 in. (58.7 x 48.9 cm) 1986 this print is number 6 from an edition of 10 PROVENANCE Robert Miller Gallery, NEW YORK Private Collection, SWITZERLAND LITERATURE Arthur Danto, MAPPLETHORPE, NEW YORK, 1992, p. 242 (variant illustrated) Since their inception in the 1980s, Robert Mapplethorpe's photographs of black male nudes have generated a great deal of controversy. Critical debate has centered on the artist's apparent fetishization of the black male body, which at times transformed his subjects into anonymous objects of erotic contemplation. While such arguments are often compelling, it remains undeniable that the best of these photographs, including the present works, are also elegant abstractions of the human form. As the artist explained shortly before his untimely death in 1989, "At some point I started photographing black men. It was an area that hadn't been explored intensively. If you went through the history of male nude photography, there were very few black subjects. I found that I could take pictures of black men that were so subtle, and the form was so photographical" (Quoted in Kobena Mercer, "Looking for Trouble," THE LESBIAN AND GAY STUDIES READER, New York: Routledge, 1993, p. 357). Indeed, both THOMAS and MICHAEL (Lot 161) dispense with overt eroticism to emphasize the "photographical" potential of their bodies. Thomas, a standing figure, twists his torso towards the spectator. His advancing right arm is bleached by the light to the point of abstraction, while his lower left leg dissolves into the dark background. Michael's body, by contrast, is doubled over, his knuckles grazing the ground. When shot against a stark black and white backdrop, this position creates a rhythmic repetition of vertical limbs and long horizontal shadows.
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