56

ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE (American, 1946-1989) UNTITLED TRIPTYCH three gelatin silver prints in artist's

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD
ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE (American, 1946-1989) UNTITLED TRIPTYCH three gelatin silver prints in artist's
ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE (American, 1946-1989) UNTITLED TRIPTYCH three gelatin silver prints in artist's frames each print is 191/2 x 159/16 in. (49.5 x 39.5 cm) overall dimensions: 28 x 70 x 1 in. (71.1 x 177.8 x 2.5 cm) circa 1972 this work is unique ESTIMATE: $20,000-30,000 PROVENANCE Private Collection, FRANCE By the late 1960s, artists such as John Baldessari, Bruce Nauman, and Ed Ruscha had embraced photography as a means of contemporary expression. Shortly thereafter, Robert Mapplethorpe, not aligning himself with these artists or attempting to emulate their work, employed a similar approach to open another area of exploration. Beginning in the early 1970s, Mapplethorpe produced a number of multi-panel photographic objects, often involving double or triple views of the same person with slight cinematic variations in posture, shifts in the foreground and background, or a progressively closer focus on the subject. Mapplethorpe took great care in the presentation of each subject. Serious formal considerations are at work in his design of the frames and their internal divisions, often employing a double frame in woods of different sizes and grains in order to reinforce the physicality of the work. Concurrent with Mapplethorpe's evaluation of aesthetic issues of the 1970s was his awareness of the dominant social issues of the decade. The so-called sexual revolution promoted freedom, liberation, and acceptability of what had previously been considered aberrant behavior, particularly among homosexuals. Mapplethorpe was an active participant in this subculture, approaching it not as a voyeur, but as an advocate. Through his photographs, he aimed to instill dignity and beauty to a world that was outside the acceptable norms of behavior. The body of work that Mapplethorpe completed on this subject brought him a great deal of acclaim and criticism, and helped confirm his position as an artist of confidence, strength and talent.