257

Robert Mapplethorpe

1946-1989

Untitled. 1968.

Mixed media construction, with photo montage, applied drawing and hand-built elements
35 x 20 1/2 x 4 in. (88.9 x 52.1 x 10.2 cm.)

  • Provenance: The collection of the artist.
    Soho Baroque Opera Co.
    Private collection, New York.

    Illustrated
    Unmuzzled, Vol. IV, No. 1, 1976, p.12

    Early in his career, Robert Mapplethorpe was influenced by a range of artists, including assemblage artist Joseph Cornell, and Dada artists Marcel Duchamp and Andre Breton. He experimented with mixed media collages, using images cut from books and magazines. Untitled, a scarce early construction from 1968, is an early experimental assemblage from Mapplethorpe composed of multiple elements. There is a clock encircling a figure of a Vitruvian man, a central figure of the crucifixion of Christ and the stigmata that unifies the work, and an antique map of the Western Hemisphere, specifically referencing North and South America. The visible title, "AMERICAE SIVE NOVI ORBIS NOVA DESCIPTIO," translates to "A New Description of America or the New World," a common title found on historical maps of the Americas. The work is a comment on sexuality, Christianity, and geo-political history.
  • Condition:
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