About this artwork
As in his portrait of Nick Marden, Mapplethorpe photographs himself from behind, but here the emphasis is on abstract design. The “V”-shape of the wall-mounted frame (actually one of Mapplethorpe’s own sculptures) echoes the diagonals of his heavily coiffed hair and intersects the inverted “V”-shape of the white piping on his leather jacket. The effect is very Art Deco. Surface style takes precedence over character depiction or psychological insight.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Robert Mapplethorpe (1946 - 1989) American
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title:Self Portrait
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date created:1981; printed 1992
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materials:Gelatin silver print on paper
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measurements:34.10 x 34.10 cm (framed: 68.60 x 65.90 x 2.80 cm)
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object type:
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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
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accession number:AR00228
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gallery:
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depicted:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe
The American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe became famous, not to say, notorious, in the 1970s and 1980s for his photographs of the male nude and sexually explicit, gay imagery. Although often considered controversial, Mapplethorpe tested the right to individual freedom of expression. These...
