Robert Mapplethorpe Biography

Robert Mapplethorpe, Photographer
Born asRobert Michael Mapplethorpe
Occup.Photographer
FromUSA
BornNovember 4, 1946
Queens, New York City, USA
DiedMarch 9, 1989
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Aged42 years
Robert Mapplethorpe was a prominent American photographer, famous for his hauntingly attractive black and also white photographs of still life, well-known personalities, and male as well as female nudes. Born on November 4, 1946, in Floral Park, Queens, New York, Mapplethorpe was the 3rd of six kids in a middle-class Roman Catholic household. Elevated in a conventional and also religious family, his imaginative expression and questionable motifs were a strong statement of disobedience versus his childhood.

Mapplethorpe examined drawing, painting, and sculpture at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, after leaving high school in 1963. While at Pratt, he satisfied artist and also artist Patti Smith, that would become one of his closest buddies, muse, and also collaborator. At the age of 21, he started revealing his artwork based upon magazine cut-outs, photographs, as well as multimedias collages. Nonetheless, it was not up until 1970 when he got a Polaroid video camera that Mapplethorpe's true talent for photography began to arise.

After moving to the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan, Mapplethorpe engaged himself in the vibrant and also growing New York art scene. He experimented with various photographic techniques and designs that were deeply inspired by his environments, recording the significance of the people and also culture via his lens. In the 1970s, he transferred to the more advanced tool layout electronic camera and also started shooting celebrities, such as Andy Warhol, Deborah Harry, and Grace Jones.

His intriguing pictures of nudes, homoerotic themes, and also BDSM subculture broke the barriers of the traditional art globe and also obscured the lines in between fine art and sexiness. Regardless of their questionable nature, Mapplethorpe's photos won him vast acclaim for their technological proficiency and also unrestrained exploration of sexuality.

In 1977, Mapplethorpe met art enthusiast Sam Wagstaff, that became his fan as well as long-lasting customer, supporting and also affecting the photographer's job in several ways. Their relationship proved essential for his growth as a musician, supplying him useful connections within the art world, in addition to financial security.

As his occupation grew, Mapplethorpe was detected with AIDS in 1986, which would eventually lead to his untimely death on March 9, 1989. However, his battle with the disastrous ailment showed to be among the most efficient durations of his life. Mapplethorpe's final jobs concentrated on timeless styles, loaded with apprehending study in still lives, and also effective representations of the body.

Robert Mapplethorpe's legacy continues to astound audiences all over the world, pushing the borders of artistic expression and welcoming provocative dialogues on the nature of art and the duty of the musician in culture. In 1988, a year prior to his fatality, he developed The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation to secure his work, advertise photography as an art, as well as supply funding for HIV/AIDS research study. With his stunning photographs and his foundation, Robert Mapplethorpe remains to influence, challenge, as well as awe the world of art and beyond.

Our collection contains 35 quotes who is written / told by Robert.

Related authors: Patti Smith (Musician), Grace Jones (Model), Lawrence Taylor (Athlete), Andy Warhol (Artist)

Robert Mapplethorpe Famous Works:
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35 Famous quotes by Robert Mapplethorpe

Small: One must ease the public into it - thats an art in itself
"One must ease the public into it - that's an art in itself"
Small: I see things like theyve never been seen before. Art is an accurate statement of the time in which it i
"I see things like they've never been seen before. Art is an accurate statement of the time in which it is made"
Small: I am selfish, but thats an attribute that all artists possess
"I am selfish, but that's an attribute that all artists possess"
Small: I am obsessed with beauty. I want everything to be perfect, and of course it isnt. And thats a tough pl
"I am obsessed with beauty. I want everything to be perfect, and of course it isn't. And that's a tough place to be because you're never satisfied"
Small: I always thought I was good. Thats why it was so frustrating when other people didnt agree
"I always thought I was good. That's why it was so frustrating when other people didn't agree"
Small: Happiness? No, its not there for me
"Happiness? No, it's not there for me"
Small: Beauty and the devil are the same thing
"Beauty and the devil are the same thing"
Small: I recorded that because it happened to me. I wasnt making a point
"I recorded that because it happened to me. I wasn't making a point"
Small: I played around with the flowers and the lighting, so that was a good way to educate myself
"I played around with the flowers and the lighting, so that was a good way to educate myself"
Small: I just want to be written about as a normal artist
"I just want to be written about as a normal artist"
Small: I just try to live my life and do my thing
"I just try to live my life and do my thing"
Small: I just hope I can live long enough to see the fame
"I just hope I can live long enough to see the fame"
Small: I dont think any collector knows his true motivation
"I don't think any collector knows his true motivation"
Small: I dont know why my pictures come out looking so good. I just dont get it
"I don't know why my pictures come out looking so good. I just don't get it"
Small: I dont believe in dogmas and theologies. I just believe in being a good person
"I don't believe in dogmas and theologies. I just believe in being a good person"
Small: I cant have just anybody assisting me, I need somebody who I can really communicate with
"I can't have just anybody assisting me, I need somebody who I can really communicate with"
Small: I became the toast of London. A lot of people I met came from these really decadent families where the
"I became the toast of London. A lot of people I met came from these really decadent families where the married men were gay and no one thought anything about it"
Small: To make pictures big is to make them more powerful
"To make pictures big is to make them more powerful"
Small: This AIDS stuff is pretty scary. I hope I dont get it
"This AIDS stuff is pretty scary. I hope I don't get it"
Small: Youre never going to get anywhere in life if you dont live up to your obligations
"You're never going to get anywhere in life if you don't live up to your obligations"
Small: With photography, you zero in you put a lot of energy into short moments, and then you go on to the nex
"With photography, you zero in; you put a lot of energy into short moments, and then you go on to the next thing"
Small: My theory about creativity is that the more money one has, the more creative one can be
"My theory about creativity is that the more money one has, the more creative one can be"
Small: My lifestyle is bizarre, but the only thing you need to know is where the darkroom is
"My lifestyle is bizarre, but the only thing you need to know is where the darkroom is"
Small: My father wants me to be like my brother, but I cant be
"My father wants me to be like my brother, but I can't be"
Small: Just because I was out at the bars all the time didnt mean I wasnt looking for someone to love
"Just because I was out at the bars all the time didn't mean I wasn't looking for someone to love"
Small: If I have to change my lifestyle, I dont want to live
"If I have to change my lifestyle, I don't want to live"
Small: If I am at a party, I want to be at the party. Too many photographers use the camera to avoid participa
"If I am at a party, I want to be at the party. Too many photographers use the camera to avoid participating in things. They become professional observers"
Small: Ive never lied. I think Ive lived a moral life
"I've never lied. I think I've lived a moral life"
Small: Im not photographing anything naked these days. I havent been concentrating on bodies recently
"I'm not photographing anything naked these days. I haven't been concentrating on bodies recently"
Small: Im not a photojournalist
"I'm not a photojournalist"
Small: Im looking for the unexpected. Im looking for things Ive never seen before
"I'm looking for the unexpected. I'm looking for things I've never seen before"
Small: I would never have done what Id done if Id considered my father as somebody I wanted to please
"I would never have done what I'd done if I'd considered my father as somebody I wanted to please"
Small: I wish I could be elegant
"I wish I could be elegant"
Small: I went into photography because it seemed like the perfect vehicle for commenting on the madness of tod
"I went into photography because it seemed like the perfect vehicle for commenting on the madness of today's existence"
Small: I should try to get some sleep as one doesnt know what tomorrow may bring
"I should try to get some sleep as one doesn't know what tomorrow may bring"