Scope and Content of Collection
The papers and photographs of Robert Mapplethorpe document the career of the prolific
artist from 1970 until his death in 1989 and his legacy in the following decades.
Encompassing the full range of Mapplethorpe's production, including newly-discovered early
drawings, assemblages, jewelry, little-known Polaroids, test shots, non-editioned prints,
commercial commissions, and films, the collection demonstrates Mapplethorpe's range of
technique and his commitment to a personal vision throughout his life. The archive also
provides documentation of Mapplethorpe's working processes and personal and professional
relationships through correspondence, studio records, interviews, clippings, ephemera,
exhibition files, and financial records.
The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation maintained and added to the archive from 1989 to 2011.
These later additions include archival documents, ephemera and clippings collected by the
Foundation, as well as records generated by the Foundation in the course of its work
promoting Mapplethorpe's legacy with exhibitions and publications. Not included in the
archive are approximately 1,900 of Mapplethorpe's limited-edition prints and other works of
art housed at the J. Paul Getty Museum and jointly owned with the Los Angeles County Museum
of Art.
Series I contains Mapplethorpe's creative output and the artworks he acquired from others.
Works by Mapplethorpe include photographs, Polaroids, three-dimensional objects, paintings,
and cut-outs. Most photographs are gelatin silver prints and are predominantly
self-portraits or portraits of Mapplethorpe's contemporaries. Works by other artists are
mostly photographs of Mapplethorpe, and some photographs also feature Patti Smith, Sam
Wagstaff, David Croland, Milton Moore, Jack Walls, Lisa Lyon, Francesco and Alba Clemente,
Nick Rhodes, and Keith Haring. Other photographs document Mapplethorpe's artworks and
jewelry designs. Also included are approximately 1000 non-editioned prints from the same
photo sessions as Mapplethorpe's editioned prints; commissioned and commercial work;
jewelry; films; and three portfolios featuring some of his earlier prints. Series II
documents how Mapplethorpe worked as a photographer. Included are over 3,000 Polaroids that
he took as test shots for his editioned prints, an index card inventory of 2,080 prints,
model release forms, shooting books that were used to record editioned print information,
and three spiral notebooks containing 418 Polaroid test shots.
Series III comprises photographs documenting Mapplethorpe's work. Included are gallery
installation shots, Polaroids, and slides. Series IV includes Mapplethorpe's personal and
professional correspondence with friends, models, clients, museums, galleries, and fans.
Correspondents include Sam Wagstaff, Lisa Lyon, John McKendry, and Patti Smith. (Note: All
letters from Patti Smith to Robert Mapplethorpe are sealed for Smith's lifetime.) Series V
contains files related to exhibitions that took place during Mapplethorpe's lifetime.
Documents include exhibition reports, press materials, ephemera, posters, and related
videos. In Series VI are several documentaries and interviews with Mapplethorpe and others.
Series VII contains fincancial and administrative records documenting Mapplethorpe's studio
operations. Series VIII consists of items from Mapplethorpe's personal photograph collection
of daguerreotypes, vintage pornography, ephemera, his zodiac chart, and other miscellaneous
items.
Series IX comprises materials that the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation created and collected
after the artist's death in 1989. Files include correspondence with museums, galleries, and
publishers; exhibition files and administrative records; and 27 boxes of collected press
clippings related to the censorship controversy and trial in Cincinnati in the early 1990s.
Also included are videos of news footage and press coverage of the controversy.
Arrangement
Arranged in nine series:
Series I. Creative work, circa 1850-2009, undated;
Series II. Photographic
practice, 1978-2000, undated;
Series III. Photographic
documentation, circa 1969-circa 1989, undated;
Series IV.
Correspondence, 1969-1991, undated;
Series V. Exhibition
files, 1977-1992, undated;
Series VI. Interviews
and documentaries, circa 1980-1989, undated;
Series VII. Financial
records,1964-1995, undated;
Series VIII. Collections
and personal items, circa 1880-1989, undated;
Series IX. Robert
Mapplethorpe Foundation, 1989-2011, undated.
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