Book dossier

Pictures

by Robert Mapplethorpe

One of the most important artists to emerge in the last quarter century was Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989), whose bold photographs left a strong impression on society and culture. Known primarily for his refined aesthetic, Mapplethorpe created classical portraits, nudes, and still lifes that helped redefine photography as an art form at a time when the medium was floundering. Mapplethorpe's controversial sex pictures -- blunt images of sadomasochism and live "play" -- were simultaneously condemned and revered during Mapplethorpe's life, and later became the center of debate over public funding for the arts, censorship, and the First Amendment. Pictures., a book created in collaboration with the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, presents for the first time the full range of these sexual images, which many critics believe to be the artist's most inspired work. This book is a tribute to Robert Mapplethorpe's daring vision and his enduring legacy. Edited and designed by Dimitri Levas, with text by Ingrid Sischy, Pictures. dispenses with the intellectual, political, and religious rhetoric surrounding earlier debates, allowing the photographs to speak on their own terms.