Robert Mapplethorpe in New York

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is hosting an important exhibition of the works of the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, which runs until 24 August 2005. Entitled “Robert Mapplethorpe and the Classical Tradition: Photographs and Mannerist Prints”, the exhibition is showing 42 historic etchings and woodcuts from the Hermitage alongside 74 photographs by Mapplethorpe.

Robert Mapplethorpe was born in 1946 and started off in photography in the 1970s by taking Polaroid portraits. He refined his range of techniques and themes throughout the 1980s, shining at pared-down aestheticism. His works are always provocative; even his large-format flowers are imbued with an erotic sensitivity. The Whitney Museum of American Art organised a major retrospective of Mapplethorpe’s work in 1998, a year before the artist died of AIDS.

Robert MAPPLETHORPE (1891-1976) : 
Artist benchmark 2004 by Artprice.com
Value
in 2004
Annual
growth
Price index (base1997 = $100)
120
+20%
Annual turnover
$ 1,218,521
+122%
Number of lots sold
75
+59%
% of lots unsold (excluding prints)
10%
-44%
Rank of artist
389
+233

Each year, 50 to 80 photographs by Mapplethorpe go under the hammer, with 80% changing hands for less than USD 12,000. According to the Artprice index, prices for his works rose 126% between 1998 and June 2005. However, his most outstanding pieces have fetched more than USD 100,000. The record was set last October when Christie’s sold a 1986 photograph, “Calla Lily”, for USD 210,000, on an estimate of USD 45,000-55,000. More recently, a diptych entitled “Tulips” was auctioned for USD 130,000 at Christie’s on 26 April 2005.