Mapplethorpe: The Complete Flowers

Book Description

Flower are one of the most common subjects for artwork, yet Mapplethorpe excels at bringing something radically new to his flower photographs. Setting them in a universe apart, their poses are classical, reduced to a series of essential forms. Their compositions are profoundly simple but mask a complex dynamic. Each one is evocative, and almost always sexually charged. When photographed by Mapplethorpe, these delicate organisms become almost muscular in their raw power.

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I Will Purchase This Book
Black Is Beautiful
Has a great depiction of the male body as it should be seen.

Black Book
Robert Mapplethorpe
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0312021666

Book Description

In Black Book, Robert Mapplethorpe presents an astonishing photographic study of black men today. In their diversity, impact, subtlety, technical virtuosity, erotic appeal, and deep humanity, these photographs constitute a stunning celebration of the contemporary black male."all my life they've been near me/these men" says Ntozake Shange in her Foreword, "i've been holdin your heart in/my hand since i was a child/cause i wanted what all you were/what all you are/now you're a man."

Customer Reviews:

I Will Purchase This Book.......2006-08-22

I will buy this book soon as a private tribute to a dear friend of mine, Jeff Gray, who is one of the models in the book. I remember him showing me the photos which Robert Mapplethorpe had taken of him. At the time, he doubted that they would ever be published. I did see the book later, but didn't purchase, but I was impressed.

When Jeff was lying in bed in a hospital in San Francisco, I called to inform him that the book had indeed been published. He was thrilled to know that he had been immortalized, for he was dying of AIDS. Jeff never saw the book and didn't have anything negative to say about Robert, whom I never met. I still own a pair of leather pants and a vest Jeffrey designed and made for me.

Black Is Beautiful.......2005-04-14

Published in 1986, Robert Mapplethorpe's BLACK BOOK remains one of my favorite books of photography. Nothing had been published like it previously; nothing comparable has been published since. The book is devoted entirely to shots of black men, some of them naked, some of them not. There are portraits included here as well-- one of my favorites is the stunning portrait of Roedel Middleton on page 70. Some of the images are outrageously beautiful. Many of the models' bodies take on the quality of polished ebony. The four nude photographs of someone named Ajitto in a classical pose-- as are many of the images-- at the beginning of the book are as beautiful as any you will ever see.

It is common knowledge of course now that some of these photographs have been declared obscene (by the likes of Jesse Helms et al.) and racist by some African Americans.(Some of the black men making these allegations, to paraphrase the black poet Don Lee, talk black but sleep white.) According to a less-than-scientific survey by this Caucasian male, there are about 94 photographs included here, only six of them are of body parts-- and I'm not talking here of feet and hands or even behinds here-- 27 are of male nudes with their genitalia exposed, and only in five of them is the model unnamed. Mapplethorpe may well have been a racist, but I fear his critics may have to look elsewhere for proof. An observation or two: his models appear to be willing subjects as no one is tied up or seems to be shot unawares. Secondly, the nature of the male animal of all colors being what it is, there's a good possibility that people having little to offer may have been unwilling to make the sacrifice of giving the viewer the full monty. The artist obviously loved black men and had many black friends as well as lovers. Finally the poet Ntozake Shange has written a beautiful poem as an introduction to this book. Apparently she had no problem with Mapplethorpe's creative vision.

Many of these photographs will last.

Has a great depiction of the male body as it should be seen........1999-06-03

Mapplethorpe, with his great photographic potenial produced a riviting book that dignifies the male, black body to the next zenith. He was able to capture the very essence of what it is to be a male and to be viewed as "God's" art or creation and not a male "pig." This book demonstrates the power of the camera when the beholder knows what he/she is doing. The images in this book do not apal me, afend me nor do they disgust me. I enjoyed reading and flipping through this book as a ligitimate art reviewer and as a academic scholar.

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"An Eloquent Record of Loss"
Delightful
A thought-provoking collection of Mapplethorpe's sex picture
One word: Ouch
very good book

Pictures: Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe
Manufacturer: Arena Editions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Flowers

ASIN: 1892041162

Customer Reviews:

"An Eloquent Record of Loss".......2007-05-22

Published after both the death of Robert Mapplethorpe in 1989 and the controversial exhibits at the Corcoran Gallery and the Cincinnati Museum PICTURES contains 100 of the artist's sex photographs. Some of the images had been published in previous books: Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter, 1979, for example, where the two men are formally posed in full leather, (Ridley is in chains) in a beautifully furnished room complete with Oriental carpet. Of course Mapplethorpe's self-portrait in leather jacket, the first portrait in the collection, had been published and exhibited previously.

The photographs range from noncontroversial portraits to the extremes of S & M. Some of these images will shock; others (Baby Larry) you may find silly. A couple of them may make you laugh. (The infamous self-portrait of Mapplethorpe, for example, with the riding crop comes to mind.)

Mapplethorpe detested the term "erotic art." He believed that art was either art or it was not. The photographs certainly are beautifully lit and formally composed. Many of the models were his friends and it is obvious that no one was photograhed against his will. (There is only one photograph of a woman among the shots.) In addition to the quotations from Mapplethorpe, Ingrid Sischy has written a thoughtful introduction to the photographs. Since Mapplethorpe did most of these photographs in the 70's and early 80's, we have to wonder how many of these men died of AIDS. Sischy says so well: "They [the photographs] articulate the hope, the craziness, the sense of emerging freedom, the battles of self-esteem, the fight to be proud of one's love. . . Although Mapplethorpe couldn't have anticipated this, as it turns out his photographs have also become an eloquent record of loss."

Certainly no one before or since Mapplethorpe has done this kind of photography. We can only imagine the thousands of images he would have given the world by now, had he lived.

Delightful.......2006-12-23

This book defines Robert Mapplethorpe's work in his most extreme and pornographic, but most pure form. Bondage, gay sex, and torture are all revealed in this portrait of the gay community. Although graphically extreme, each of these photos reveal a certain personality of the participants within displaying the reality and the often grotesque nature of inner desires of the human soul.

The book itself is printed with wonderful photographic sharpness and clarity to ensure the reader of every detail. Huge photo prints and commentary by Mapplethorpe himself make this a wonderful addition to any person who relishes erotic photography and artforms. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is partial to his works rather than to someone who was recently introduced.

A thought-provoking collection of Mapplethorpe's sex picture.......2001-10-22

This collection of pictures is bound in a good quality cover and printed on a glossy paper of reasonable quality.

The images themselves are, in the main, sex pictures; S&M pictures; and a few portraits. The sex pictures are quite grotesque, concentrating as they do on the pain, blood, urine, bondage and so on. Whether you'll enjoy these depends on your view of the subject. Personally, I didn't find them uplifting or illuminating. The models were sullen, looked unhappy, or downright sad: but then I suppose if your... has been nailed to a plank you're entitled to be a little shaken!

The few portraits included in this volume were entirely unpleasing, and not representative of Mapplethorpe's better work. They offered no real insight ot the subjects, who remained cold and aloof, detached it seems from the process of making art.

This is a collection of many of Mapplethorpe's more 'sensational' and 'shocking' images. Whether you are affronted or not they do deserve inspection, if only to see what the 'conservatives' tried to ban. You might actually feel repulsed and agree that these pictures are not art but pornography.

One word: Ouch.......2000-09-18

You can always debate whether this book is "art" or not, but the fact is I am worried about what happened to some of the subjects. Helmut? Are you okay? I think Mapplethorpe wanted to shock, and he did, but I found the pictures had too much pain in them to be appreciated. I was deadened to what Mapplethorpe wanted to say, if he wanted to say anything at all. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

very good book.......2000-09-02

artistic and powerful, i recommend it

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CAPTIVATING!
a throughly well written book!!!
Thoroughly enjoyable read.
Very entertaining!

Mapplethorpe: A Biography
Patricia Morrisroe
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0394576500
Release Date: 1995-06-06

Book Description

With Robert Mapplethorpe's full endorsement and encouragement, Morrisroe interviewed more than 300 friends, lovers, family members and critics to form this definitive biography of America's most censored and celebrated photographer. 32 pages of photos.

Customer Reviews:

CAPTIVATING!.......2002-05-10

Although Robert Mapplethorpe's artistic creations are undeniably controversial, his life story, as told by Patricia Morrisroe, makes for absolutely fascinating reading. I had more than once come across references to Mapplethorpe's work in the various gay fictions I'd been reading; and being totally unfamiliar with him (except for vague name recognition), I decided to find out more about him. Interestingly enough, both towards the latter half of his life and in the months following his death there were many events related in the book that I could recall having heard about in the news, but didn't make the connection with Mapplethorpe until this book. I think my mouth was agape throughout most of the time spent reading it; even now, recalling the descriptions of some of his photos and the detailed recounting of his lifestyle, I just sit and shake my head in amazement and probably shock. Robert Mapplethorpe, at his mother's request, received the last rites before he died. Being raised Catholic, I know what that should mean; but quite frankly, if there is indeed a heaven and a hell, I'm not sure in which place Robert Mapplethorpe is currently residing. A very informative book, and very, very absorbing reading!

a throughly well written book!!!.......1999-10-14

this booktotally captured my attention and got me completely engrossed in it . i didn't feel the pages turning at all.i read this book for college and i did in no way find it a chore to do so.i found myself waiting untill i could pick up the book to continue reading. well written.

Thoroughly enjoyable read........1999-06-08

This book is excellent and very readable.I imagine there is not much left to say about Roberts life.The research is thorough but the resulting book is vivid ,full of life and not at all dull.Everybody in the N.Y. art scene seems to make an appearance-Patti Smith is obviously also a big and constant background presence in the tale.Even if you don't rate Roberts work this book will be well worth reading.

Very entertaining!.......1997-03-08

This book was done so well, it kept my interest into the the personal side of Mapplethorpe. The book is in no way gross or tawdry. It reflects a realistic depiction of his relationships. You can actually see yourself growing older with him as the story progresses

Robert Mapplethorpe And The Classical Tradition

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The Art Of Mapplethorpe, The Architecture Of The Human Body
The Classical Tradition
Mapplethorpe as Part of the Intellectual Museum Repertoire!

Robert Mapplethorpe And The Classical Tradition
Jennifer Blessing , Arkady Ippolitov , Antonio Canova , Benvenuto Cellini , Jacques-Louis David , Jacob Matham , Jan Saenredam , and Auguste Rodin
Manufacturer: Guggenheim Museum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0892073136
Release Date: 2004-10-02

Book Description

Robert Mapplethorpe never concealed his interest in and passion for the human figure in all its sensuous manifestations. His celebrated black-and-white photographs from the later part of the 20th century reveled in the athletic body, the nude body, the exquisite body. This groundbreaking exhibition and its accompanying catalogue explore the relationship between the photography of Robert Mapplethorpe and Classical art, in particular through Mannerist engravings and sculpture. The pairing of works is among the first collaborations between the Guggenheim Museum and the State Hermitage Museum. Robert Mapplethorpe and the Classical Tradition exemplifies the artist's rapport with the elongated and elaborate forms of Mannerist art, namely the study of the human body, highlighting the underlying classicism evident in the clarity and potency of all Mapplethorpe's subjects as well as their explosive energy. The classical ideal was not only a poetic inspiration but also an ethical model and, in his creative quest, Mapplethorpe described photography as "the perfect way to make a sculpture." The potency of love and Eros, which electrifies many of the Mannerist works shown here, is articulated again in the work of Mapplethorpe. The vital anatomical forms of his portraits of models such as bodybuilder Lisa Lyons and the statuesque Derrick Cross find their roots in Antiquity, and here they find their mirror in the likes of Jan Harmensz Muller's Sabine woman and Jacob Matham's Apollo. The Hermitage's superb collection of Italian painting and sculpture amply illustrates the course of Italian art from the Middle Ages to the 18th century and includes an impressive collection of Mannerist works. Approximately 50 Mannerist works from the Hermitage collection are paired with the same number of works by Mapplethorpe from the Guggenheim's collection, are several Italian, French and Flemish bronze sculptures from the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Essays by the curators are included: Addressing the return to Classicism at the end of the 16th, 19th, and 20th centuries, Arkady Ippolitov discusses the obsession that defines both the work of Mapplethorpe and the Mannerists. Germano Celant's text further explores the influence this 16th-century style had on Mapplethorpe's artistic practice and sensibility, illuminating the artist's interest in the study of pure form as well as allegorical imagery. Articulated in both word and image, the catalogue also traces Mapplethorpe's complex relationship to the history of art more broadly, ranging from Neoclassicism to Surrealism, with comparisons to the work of Jacques-Louis David, Antonio Canova, Auguste Rodin, Man Ray, and more. A third essay by Guggenheim Curator Jennifer Blessing traces allegorical representations in 19th- and 20th-century photography, with references to Mapplethorpe's oeuvre.

Customer Reviews:

The Art Of Mapplethorpe, The Architecture Of The Human Body.......2007-01-04

This book combines astute background commentary and scholarly explanation with a solid selection of the late Robert Mapplethorpe's often striking photographic images, in this case those of the human form, and the result is an excellent book that showcases who this artist was, and what his work was about. It was in my hometown, of course, that "The Perfect Moment" a showing of Mapplethorpe's work about seventeen years ago led to the disgraceful obscenity prosecution of an art museum--the only such case ever pursued in the United States. I take it as a mark of some pride that the verdict in that case was not guilty, and, if I may add this, that my father was someone actively involved in the defense of the arts and the freedom of expression that helped in some fashion to uphold liberty in our community and nation. For that reason, as well as for its own merits, this book, a recent Christmas present, holds meaning to me.

The Classical Tradition.......2005-09-07

A fantastic reference in respect of Robert Mapplethorpe's more purist work. Amazingly well presented, printed and published, it has relevant accompanying text and essays, and as with most Mapplethrorpe images, the plates are simply brilliant. Be aware, this text is an important part of the book, so it's not all just pictures, but it asssists with giving an insight into the formalist manner in which the photographs were taken.
This book is for anyone with an interest in the Robert Mapplethorpe's work, or if you just want to own a record of some of the best photographs ever taken.

Mapplethorpe as Part of the Intellectual Museum Repertoire!.......2005-08-24

How far we've come! Not many years ago Robert Mapplethorpe's inimitable photographs were the cause célèbre in museums and galleries. Even journalists and politicians and filmmakers focused on the 'pornographic' aspects of Mapplethorpe's varied output. Yet today his place in the canon of art history is assured, and as proof of this status, here is a catalogue that accompanied an exhibition co-hosted by the prestigious Guggenheim Museum and the State Hermitage Museum of Russia!

The sophisticated curators have elected to compare and contrast the Mannerist prints and sculptures from the Hermitage with the photographs from the Guggenheim showing how Mapplethorpe's nudes and flowers and still lifes share much of the same obsession with eros and passion. Placing the etchings and sculptures side by side with Mapplethorpe's complementary photographs is a valid and informative curatorial concept. The result of this comparison heightens our appreciation for Mapplethorpe's photographic compositions and manipulations of the nude form.

The 'catalogue' book includes informed essays by Arkady Ippolitov, Germano Celant, Guggenheim Curator Jennifer Blessing - each beautifully written and each cogent on the subject of the juxtaposition of Mapplethorpe with the Mannerists.
The reproductions of both the photographs and the etchings and sculptures are superb. This is one museum catalogue that stands very well as an art history book. Recommended. Grady Harp, August 05

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Beautiful Photographs Beyond Words
Not quite the best available
just plain beautiful
Stunning
Perpetual Spring Provides Creative Inspiration!

Flowers
Robert Mapplethorpe
Manufacturer: Bulfinch Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 082121781X

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful Photographs Beyond Words.......2005-04-11

This collection of color photographs of flowers by Robert Mapplethorpe is stunning beyond words. Just when you thought that nothing else could be done with the overdone photographing of Calla Lilies, Mapplethorpe graces this book with eleven new shots of them, along with Orchids, Tulips, Poppies and a Rose or two. It should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Mapplethorpe's work that some of these magnificent color shots are quite phallic in nature.

It is appropriate that the artist selected flowers for some of his last work since he like flowers was here for such a short time. (It is futile to speculate as to how many beautiful books he would have published by now had he lived.)

A short but moving introduction is included by his friend Patti Smith: She ends her comments with lines:

"A flower that grew from years of flowers./By one who caused a modern shudder/and was favored by his mother./It is the wall that conceals all the tears of a relatively young man/with nothing but glory in his grasp and what he would be/grasping is the hand of God drawing him into another garden."

For those who will never afford a Mapplethorpe, this book is a beautiful substitute.

Not quite the best available.......2004-02-07

While the photos are stunning, the presentation is a little rough. While most photos are presented with a blank page opposite there are a few photos that face other photos. This is a little jarring but worse is the two photos that are printed across the facing page. The spine break really detracts from a pair of beautiful photos.
Mapplethorpe was a genius with a camera and this book gives us many reminders of his skill. The publisher, however, lacks the artistic eye that would have prevented the distractions of a few photos that are damaged or badly placed by the layout. Minus a star because it could have been layed out better

just plain beautiful.......2002-05-16

Even though Mapplethorpe is better known for his controversial black and white nude photos, this book demonstrates his careful delicacy with not only the flowers but also the controlled lighting and the subtle colors. I have loved this book since the first time I leafed through it in studio photo class.

Stunning.......2002-02-03

Unbelivable intensity out of such simplicity. Here is Mapplethorpe's ultimate genius, astoundingly powerful from such simple set-ups. The colour, composition, lighting, choice of vases and flowers: All the basics but brilliantly done.
I saw Mapplethorpe's famous exhibition in Philadelphia just before he died,the exhibit that was banned at the Corcoran in D.C., then siezed for a while in Cincinnati. The flower photographs were dye-transfer prints, which made the colour surprisingly intense; some were almost 3' tall. People would stand for a long time in front of those, enraptured, sensing the work on several different levels at once. This book does a good job of bringing that to you. You can look at this book over and over again, put in on a coffe table to start converstaions or, after having not seen it for a while, rediscover it to be awed and inspired anew once again.
The edition I have is a 1990 paperback 12" in height; the pictures are presented one to a spread, so that there is a blank white page accross from the flower, which is a very classy touch, completely the correct way to do it.

Perpetual Spring Provides Creative Inspiration!.......2001-04-15

This book deserves more than five stars. It is the finest set of flower photography that I have seen before, and presents more dimensions of what a flower can mean that I would have thought possible.

I took a course of creativity from author Dan Wakefield a number of years ago. One of the many excellent exercises we did was to take a flower and write as much as we could about what we observed during an hour. At the end of the time, I was bursting with new ideas for all kinds of things. Try it sometime!

Seeing this marvelous book by Robert Mapplethorpe (that would earn a G rating if it were a motion picture) reminded me of that exercise. I had the same feeling as I examined each image, and had a great desire to start taking notes.

The essay, A Final Flower, by Patti Smith helps put these great works in perspective. Mr. Mapplethorpe found it "as easy to hurl beauty as anything else." "He came, in time, to embrace the flower as the embodiment of all the contradictions reveling within [him]." He was inspired by "their sleekness, their fullness, Humble narcissus, Passionate zen." As such, he found flowers to be "worthy conspirators in the courting and development of conflicting emotions."

The images themselves evoke more complicated views than any others of flowers that I have seen. The closest to his style is that which Georgia O'Keeffe used in her painings. But there are more dimensions to these photographs.

For example, a single flower may evoke a part of a human body, but it will also stimulate an impression of a human emotion contained in the flower image separate from the body part. Further, the shadowed background behind the flower will add movement and context that greatly expand the meaning of the overall image. Mr. Mapplethorpe also displays a genius for using varieties of color together to express complicated rhythms that make looking at the images a lot like listening to a drum beating a distinctive tattoo. He also employs juxtaposition (to make one thing appear to be part of something else), allusions to emerging and receding, and contrasts to great effect.

The technical quality of the images is superb. The lighting, detail, and composition of each image are precisely as must have been intended. Each image is an exquisite gem. Although I liked all of the images, some appealed to me more than others. Here are my favorites:

Irises, 1988; Rose, 1989; Orchid, 1977; White Longstem Flower, 1982; Orchids, 1982; Orchid, 1986; Flowers in a Vase, 1985; Orchids, 1987; and Poppy, 1988 (second one). I would like to specially praise the astonishing Calla Lilies (1985-1988) for their amazing beauty and inspiring qualities.

Where else can something simple display so much important meaning and complexity about nature and the viewer? I suggest that you consider looking at leaves, rocks, and feathers as possible additional sources of inspiration. Try your hand at arranging tableaux that use the vocabulary of Mr. Mapplethorpe's work here.

Customer Reviews:

An edition good enough for gift giving.......2007-08-04

There are several editions of this book published. They have been thoroughly reviewed, so I will just review this edition, not the material itself.

As you can see by the photograph, it has a red cover and black spine. On the front cover and the title page there is a picture of a shirtless horned man. This book contains black and white photographs, by Robert Mapplethorpe, placed just about at the beginning of every section. I do not like them and I think they are a distraction from the text.

This is a very well constructed book. The pages are made out of a high grade thick paper. On the left side of the book is the original text in French. On the right side is the translation in English, which is done by Paul Schmidt. Since I can not read French, I completely enjoyed the English version.

Brilliant.......2003-02-02

This is a brilliant encapsulation of the rage of the artist. He has a contempt for mankind, society, it's progress, and yet can't escape society. He can be a "..." as artists where called back then, refuse to live a middle class existence, live a life of drunken debauchery, and yet that is just another societal role.
His imagery is powerful, his language self-deprecating and insanely sincere. It draws you in with its suffering.
At the end he finds his life as an artist, his passion, empty. It all ended with the gunshot to the hand that ended his affair with Verlaine. In short, he equates his artistry and homosexual affairs with hell, and a return to society redemption. This explains how he became a materialist later on in his life, a trader, even considering trading slaves.
It is a sad fate for someone who had such a poetic gift.
I still enjoy reading A Season In Hell, even after having read it many times. Ultimately, the work is flawed; it has a little too much affected insanity, angst, the sign of an adolescent work, but it is also full of pure poetry and promise.

The hell within.......2001-02-24

These are the brilliant and mystical hallucinations of the original "enfant terrible" and his visionary raptures about poetry, innocence and guilt. Verbal deliriums suffused with pain and hatred, remorse and desperation, but also with a parodic, pathetic and fatalistic megalomania. The "mystical rage" transformed into pyromaniac wording. Poems in prose, of very high quality, which reflect the fury of the love-hate relationship of Rimbaud with life and Universe.

Anguished and Brilliant.......2000-10-01

In the collection of prose poems and verse fragments that make up the short book A Season in Hell, begun in April 1873 in an outbuilding at Rimbaud's family farm at the village of Roche and completed by the end of August, he looks back in despair over his life as a poet. In one of the fragments, titled "Ravings number two" he talks about "the history of one of my follies." "I invented the colors of the vowels!" he claims, and goes on: "I flattered myself that I had created a poetic language accessible...to all the senses...I expressed the inexpressible. I defined vertigos...I ended up regarding my mental disorder as sacred."

Rimbaud draws a picture of his affair with Verlaine in cynical terms, painting Verlaine as a weak and foolish virgin and himself as an "infernal bridegroom," a monster of cruelty. It wasn't far from the truth.

The last chapter of A Season in Hell is titled "Farewell." It has an air of exhaustion and relief about it. "I have tried to invent new flowers, new stars, new flesh, new tongues. I believed I had acquired supernatural powers. Well! I must bury my imagination and my memories. A fine fame as an artist and story-teller swept away! I! I who called myself magus or angel, exempt from all morality, I am given back to the earth, with a task to pursue, and wrinkled reality to embrace. A peasant!" A Season In Hell was finished in August 1873. Rimbaud somehow persuaded his thrifty mother to pay to have the book printed in Belgium. He sent his six author's copies to his friends and to men of letters in Paris. Many people see this manuscript as his farewell to literature. It certainly reads like that, although Enid Starkie believes that it was Rimbaud's farewell to a certain kind of literature--visionary, mystical, growing out of the selfish and hallucinatory lifestyle that had crashed to a halt only a few months before with his shooting and the jailing of Verlaine--and a commitment to something more humble and realistic. "Well, now I shall ask forgiveness for having fed on lies," Rimbaud wrote. He hoped that the French literary world would offer him the forgiveness that he was now prepared to seek, and give his book favorable reviews. He the proceeded to Paris to see how his book had fared.

Favorable reviews? He must have been mad. To those literary men, the dilettantes Rimbaud had mocked and despised a year or two earlier, Rimbaud was the insolent catamite who had destroyed their old friend Verlaine: sponged off him, wrecked his marriage, corrupted his soul and ruined his life, and then, when he had used him up, had turned him in to the police to face hard labor in a Belgian jail.

We have an eyewitness account of Rimbaud on the day when the last door in Paris had been slammed in his face, at the moment when he realized that the literary career he'd embraced so passionately was over. It was the evening of the first of November, 1873, a holiday, and the cafés and restaurants were crowded. The poet Poussin had joined some writer friends at the Café Tabourey. He noticed a young man alone in a corner, staring into space. It was Rimbaud. Poussin went over and offered to buy him a drink. "Rimbaud was pale and even more silent than usual," he later recalled. "His face, indeed his whole bearing, expressed a powerful and fearsome bitterness." For the rest of his life Poussin "retained from that meeting a memory of dread."

Anguished and Brilliant.......2000-09-28

In the collection of prose poems and verse fragments that make up the short book A Season in Hell, begun in April 1873 in an outbuilding at Rimbaud's family farm at the village of Roche and completed by the end of August, he looks back in despair over his life as a poet. In one of the fragments, titled "Ravings number two" he talks about "the history of one of my follies. I invented the colors of the vowels!" he claims, and goes on: "I flattered myself that I had created a poetic language accessible...to all the senses...I expressed the inexpressible. I defined vertigos...I ended up regarding my mental disorder as sacred."

When the café closed, Rimbaud--who hadn't spoken to anyone all evening--set out to walk home through the late autumn countryside. It took him about a week. When he got to Charleville he built a bonfire and burned all his manuscripts. He didn't bother to collect the remaining five hundred copies of his book from the printer--they moldered there until they were discovered by a Belgian lawyer in 1901. That should have been the end of it. But Rimbaud couldn't quite let go. The following year in London he carefully copied out his prose poems, gathered together under the title, Illuminations. The year after that he tried to get them published. For the anguished but brilliant Rimbaud, giving up poetry must have been akin to weaning himself from a potent drug.

Average customer rating:

A good collection showing a range of photo types.

a well-rounded group

Worth the expense but a bit disappointing

Respectful treatment of a great artist

Disgusting and disturbing

Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Mapplethorpe, Robert | ( M-O ) | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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Mapplethorpe: The Complete Flowers

Mapplethorpe: A Biography

Flowers Flowers

Robert Mapplethorpe

A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005

ASIN: 0679408045
Release Date: 1992-10-27

Book Description

This major, long out-of-print survey, widely regarded as the definitive overview of Mapplethorpe's black-and-white photography, is once again available in a new, updated edition. It presents a comprehensive selection of Mapplethorpe's nudes, portraits, self-portraits, floral still lifes and other works, including his best known and most controversial images. Mapplethorpe's choices were both innovative and bold, and his work has continued to resonate since his early death in 1989. His cutting-edge use of homoerotic and other challenging themes has become embedded in our culture, with pervasive echoes not only in the work of other artists but in mainstream advertising as well.

Customer Reviews:

A good collection showing a range of photo types........2001-10-22

This book is LARGE! Very large. It is approximately 12" square, like a vinyl LP record, and comes in a tough card outer sleeve or box, thus keeping the actual book itself free from damage. I don't know exactly how much it weighs, but I suspect that it must be 3-4 Kg, so if you order it warn your postman! The images are all B&W.

It is also large in terms of content, there being some 600-odd images presented. There is an intoxicating range of photographs spreading over many years of Mapplethorpe's work and many genres. I have always found his flower portraits the most inspiring and they are here in plenty although regrettably none in colour. Obviously there also the formal portraits, the pictures of large male genitalia, pictures of Patti Smith (who is she, anyway?), a large number of self portraits, and many others.

This is NOT a book of sex images although there are few that are 'close to the mark', rather a collection of more of Mapplethorpe's more artistic ventures. Of all, I was much struck by the simple (polaroid) image of a young man on page 25, simple called "Untitled, 1974".

There is a superb essay by Arthur C. Danto explaining much of the controversy surrounding this photographer, along with a very full catalogue of Mapplethorpe's work, his books, exhibitions, and a bibliography of those who have written about or included his works.

Very good value for money if you are a fan.

a well-rounded group.......2001-10-04

Admitting that I've never seen any of Mapplethorpe's work up close and personal I'll none the less say that the prints are beautiful. The huge format gives the photos plenty of room to breathe, as is sometimes a problem in art books. I spent a good while seeking a collection that included all of his favorite subject matter, both the pretty and the disturbing, and this one didn't disappoint. If you are too weak of stomach for some of the admittedly harsh erotic stuff (which includes mostly that of the "homo-" variety) then buy a collection of his flowers and women, but all of his work makes much more sense in context.

Worth the expense but a bit disappointing.......2000-07-14

While this handsome, exceptionally made collection of Mapplethorpe photography is certainly worth its cost, the editors have done a disservice to the artist by eliminating the framing effects Mapplethorpe created to off-set his own work, and thus sometimes robbing individual images of their ultimately intended impact. Worse still, these particular reproductions generally eliminate the sepia, blue-ish, or silvery tones of the original works and consequently misrepresent the artist's intent. Those who are established admires of Mapplethorpe will be impressed by this book; those who have not previously seen his work, however, will probably wonder what all the artistic fuss was about.

Respectful treatment of a great artist.......2000-04-20

A stunning monograph on one of America's greatest artists beautifully produced and bound by Random House. Classical form with revolutionary subject matter (eg, MAN IN POLYESTER SUIT,1980), whether a simple portrait of ROY COHN, or BRUCE CHATWIN, or a series on LISA LYON or the luminous, exquisite portrait of FRANCESCA THYSSEY 1981, or COCK 1982, or EGGPLANT, 1985, light and shadow (he appears to have worked exclusively in black and white)and composition are masterful and reveal Mr Mapplethorpe as a visionary artist. Athur C. Danto provides a useful and insightful analysis of Mr Mapplethorpe's contribution to the art, including the feminist perspective on his work as well as consideration of the problematic area of the use of children as subjects. A rewarding legacy of a great artist at a very reasonable price.

Disgusting and disturbing.......1999-09-28

How can anyone like this stuff? It's disgusting and disturbing? If you wan't close up pictures of male body parts, this if for you!

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Simply Beautiful
Gorgeous lush prose/poem
Mythic, lyric tribute to Mapplethorpe
Beautiful, haunting, touching.
patti smith -an artist and her book

The Coral Sea
Patti Smith
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0393316262

Book Description

In linked pieces Patti Smith tells the story of a man on a journey to see the Southern Cross, who is reflecting on his life and fighting the illness that is consuming him. Metaphoric and dreamy, this tale of transformation arises from Smith's knowledge of Mapplethorpe as a young man and as a mature artist, his close relationship with his patron and friend, Sam Wagstaff, and his years surviving AIDS and his ascent into death. Rich in detail, it is filled with references to Mapplethorpe's work and shows the man beneath the persona. Set against photographs by Mapplethorpe, the work emerges as a hymn, a prayer, a fable wishing him Godspeed on his latest journey.

Customer Reviews:

Simply Beautiful.......2003-04-19

What a wonderful book. Patti Smith's poetry is full with an intense personal feeling. I can only echo the comments of previous reviewers; this book shines a bright and pellucid beauty, both in its poetry and in the sublime photographs. Spending an afternoon with The Coral Sea took me into a serene, meditative, dreamy state. It has that quality. Something of it reminded me of Visconti's film, Death in Venice. This is a book I shall always have.

Gorgeous lush prose/poem.......2002-07-10

Patti Smith his come aways since HORSES. Or maybe not very far at all. Lurking beneath the poet/punk of the famous mapplethorp cover was a woman of profoundly mystical bent. In this, a fable and an elegy , for Robert as she writes in the dedication, Patti smith imagines a man searching for the southern cross, and a man dying. Each of the very short capters are accompanied by a mapplethorpe photograph. Profound, wrenching prose, which caused me to wince in pain and recognition, and ultimately, which delivers a coda to a life. This is amazing stuff, the kind of book that should be passed to loved ones wrapped in a ribbon of silk,, cherished as a gift. It is that good. It moved me like few books have in my life.Nothing in Patti smiths work had prepared me for the overwhelming beauty of this book. A staggering book of wonder.

Mythic, lyric tribute to Mapplethorpe.......2000-10-23

This slim volume is sprinkled with photographs primarily by Robert Mapplethorpe. They are well chosen to grace the poetic prose elegy by Patti Smith. The prose reminds me in a strange way of the writings of H.D. - the story of facing death is told in mythic terms - in terms of the sea, the search for the Hercules moth, the sighting of the Southern Cross as his uncle had promised, of Greek gods. Its strength is in the description of Mapplethrope as artist - fascinated by arranging, estranged from nature. The writing is not without flaws but it is interesting and telling.

Beautiful, haunting, touching........2000-08-30

By far the most effective writing in this book is that of the introduction. Patti Smith recalls her first and last meetings with Robert Maplethorpe, whereby she somehow manages -- by drawing upon both the similarities and differences of these two experiences -- to express the anguish and tragedy of his death. If there are any doubts about Smith's poetic ability, this brief, beautiful tribute to her friend should lay them to rest. The following pages contain some of Maplethorpe's most serene work, and Smith's writing is no less inspired. Lacking the pretention of some of her earlier work, these words are lucid, honest, heartfelt, and rewarding.

patti smith -an artist and her book.......1999-05-28

when i first heard 'horses' by patti smith,i thoght it was the most sublime artwork to inwade my little pretentious arty world;i thought it was better than sex, masturbation,writing or even drinking - my whole life had been transposed. yet, in years that came, patti had found away to transcend even the beauty of the actual physical existence she so celebrated w/ her life, her art, the people she loved;the little girl of vivid dreams growing into a youg poetess,into a visionary artist, a wife, a mother - the seclusion embraced by chosing domesticy only proppeling her to mature as an artist and a person; robbert mapplethorpe had been a dear friend who helped her to find her true calling - art;his gift had been taken from us all too soon by aids. she could not weep so she wrote her sorrow : about passenger m who, terminally ill, sets on his last journey, a pilgrimage to see the southern cross;in his last days he questions his life which had been beautiful and which he adorned w/ his gift of the perfect placement of things; it had not been a perfect life however- he was unable to find a balance beetween his desire for perfection and the actual life itself; thus he was dying alone, his last wish to see his ideal the southern cross: perhaps in his mind he had failed to be what he wished, but his passing away was beautiful and he left behind his art to light the way of those treading after him, us. pattis work tells us about the inner struggle of the artist, she describes robbert as an artist (no matter what else he might have been),inducing us to believe in the power and importance of art in our life; her book is a loving elegie to her friend, her beloved compeer, her unfettered joy. leena spite.

Moving Pictures: Contemporary Photography and Video from the Guggenheim Collection

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Essays & Photography Great, But Hard to Appreciate Videos

Moving Pictures: Contemporary Photography and Video from the Guggenheim Collection
Maria-Christina Villasenor , Joan Young , Marina Abramovic , Vito Acconci , Matthew Barney , Felix Gonzalez-Torres , Andreas Gursky , Bruce Nauman , Nam June Paik , Robert Smithson , Kara Walker , John G. Hanhardt , and Maria-Christina Villaseñor
Manufacturer: Guggenheim Museum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Museums & Collections | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Contemporary Art | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0892072695
Release Date: 2003-10-02

Book Description

During the late 1960s and 70s, a paradigm shift occurred within visual culture: photography and the moving image were absorbed into critical art practices. In particular, these mediums were used to record ephemeral or performative events and to render visible conceptual systems or to question the supposed objectivity of representation itself. This volume focuses primarily on artworks from the last decade and proposes that the extensive use of reproducible mediums in today's art has its roots in an earlier formative period. By the end of the 70s, many artists turned to photography as a vehicle through which to critique photographic representation and to subvert an art system premised on the notion of the original. While this practice came to define much of the 80s postmodern art, its legacy for the 90s was essentially the license to indulge in photographic fantasy, image construction, and cinematic narrative. Artists working today freely manipulate their representations of the empirical world or invent entirely new cosmologies. They process their subject matter through conceptual systems or use digital processes to alter their images. Some directly intervene in the environment, subtly shifting components of the found world and establishing their quiet presence in it; others fabricate entire architectural environments for the camera lens. This current state of the arts and its recent history are represented via more than 150 works by 55 artists, including Nam June Paik, Kara Walker, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Marina Abramovic, Vito Acconci, Ana Mendieta, Bruce Nauman, Robert Smithson, Christian Boltanski, Sophie Calle, Fischli & Weiss, Ann Hamilton, Robert Mapplethorpe, Annette Messager, Cindy Sherman, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Elger Esser, Andreas Gursky, Candida H fer, Thomas Ruff, J rge Sasse, Thomas Struth, Olafur Eliasson, Roni Horn, Gabriel Orozco, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Matthew Barney, Gregory Crewdson, Anna Gaskell, Sam Taylor-Wood, Oliver Boberg, James Casebere, Thomas Demand, Vanessa Beecroft, Wolfgang Tillmans, Patty Chang, Trisha Donnelly, Stan Douglas, Pierre Huyghe, William Kentridge, Steve McQueen, Shirin Neshat, John Pilson and Gillian Wearing.

Customer Reviews:

Essays & Photography Great, But Hard to Appreciate Videos.......2004-02-21

This book accompanies a 2003-2004 exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. It begins with 30 pages of essays: "Introduction," "Picturing Movement, Past and Present," and "Art Photography after Photography." These essays do an excellent job of placing the exhibition in context. In addition, they mention works in a smaller 2002-2003 version of the exhibition in New York, which included some artists (e.g., Vito Acconci, Bruce Nauman, Nam June Paik, and Robert Smithson) not represented in the Bilbao exhibition.

The body of the book ("Catalogue Entries") consists of text about and photographs or video stills by 50 artists in alphabetical order (Marina Abramovic through Jane and Louise Wilson). Each of the artists is given up to one page of text. For most of the artists there is only one page of images, but Francis Alys, Matthew Barney, Miles Coolidge, Gregory Crewdson, Rineke Dijkstra, Olafur Eliasson, Peter Fischli / David Weiss, Anna Gaskell, Nan Goldin, Douglas Gordon, Andreas Gursky, Ann Hamilton, Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, Mariko Mori, Aika Noguchi, Catherine Opie, Gabriel Orozco, Pipilotte Rist, Michal Rovner, Thomas Struth, Sam Taylor-Wood, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Kara Walker have at least three pages. Some works by Dijkstra, Gaskell, Goldin, Gursky, Anthony Hernandez, Manglano-Ovalle, Mori, Orozco, Rovner, Thomas Ruff, Taylor-Wood, and Tillmans are not reproduced in the book but were in the exhibition (per the list on pages 205-216). Virtually all of the works are dated 1990-2002; some images of Goldin's were taken in the 1970s and 1980s but were published later. For each artist, 2-4 "selected readings" are listed in the back of the book.

The photography is mostly great, but the book does not really do the videos justice for a couple reasons. First, there are not enough stills to give the reader a good idea of the course of each video. I would have preferred a larger number of smaller-sized stills. Second, the one-page-of-text limit for each video artist gives the same amount of space for the massive Cremaster series by Barney as for a three-minute video by Patty Chang. You'll have to travel to Spain to fully appreciate the videos, but meanwhile buy the book from Amazon.com!

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