Robert Mapplethorpe

Bob Love

About this artwork

Around 1979 Mapplethorpe began to photograph black men. As his biographer, Patricia Morrisroe, wrote, he found that “he could extract a greater richness from the colour of their skin”, in particular the tonal range between the highlights and the shadows was more dramatic. In this close-up of Bob Love, Mapplethorpe exploits the contrast between the highlights on his shoulder and face and the inky darkness of his neck and the back and top of his head.

Updated before 2020

see media
  • artist:
  • title:
    Bob Love
  • date created:
    1979
  • materials:
    Gelatin silver print on paper
  • measurements:
    34.00 x 34.10 cm (framed: 50.80 x 40.60 cm)
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund, 2008
  • accession number:
    AR00160
  • gallery:
  • subject:
  • artwork photographed by:
    Antonia Reeve
This artwork is part of Artist Rooms
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Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe