About this artwork
As in most of his self portraits Mapplethorpe presents himself playing a role – here that of the stealthy and rather reticent knife-stabber. He holds his hand out with the knife as if about to deliver a thrust, but his other hand is held up in a mixture of horror and surprise and his face looks more anxious than determined.
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:1983
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materials:Gelatin silver print on paper
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measurements:47.60 x 37. 50 cm (framed: 81.70 x 69.00 x 2.70 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:AR00227
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gallery:
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depicted:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
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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...
