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Robert Mapplethorpe (American, 1946–1989)
LOT ID: 68304
Ken Moody, 1983

Silver Print, gelatin silver print
19 х 17.75 in. cm.
Other, not viewed out of frame
Edition 3/10
Lot description
Between 1982 and 1985, Robert Mapplethorpe created some of his most iconic works, focusing his lens on body builder/model Ken Moody. Pictured in profile, Moody's strong physique is accentuated through the subtle play of light against his muscles.

This work comes framed and measures 31 x 26 inches.

Robert Mapplethorpe (November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white portraits, photos of flowers and naked men. The frank, homosexual eroticism of some of the work of his middle period triggered a more general controversy about the public funding of artworks.

Mapplethorpe was born and grew up as a Roman Catholic of English and Irish heritage in Our Lady of the Snows Parish in Floral Park, New York, a neighborhood of Long Island. He received a B.F.A. from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he majored in graphic arts.

In the mid-1970s, he acquired a Hasselblad medium-format camera and began taking photographs of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, including artists, composers, and socialites. In the 1980s he refined his aesthetic, photographing statuesque male and female nudes, delicate flower still lifes, and highly formal portraits of artists and celebrities. Mapplethorpe's first studio was at 24 Bond Street in Manhattan. In the 1980s Sam Wagstaff gave him $500,000 to buy the top-floor loft at 35 West 23rd Street, where he lived and had his shooting space.

Mapplethorpe died on the morning of March 9, 1989, in a Boston, Massachusetts hospital from complications arising from AIDS; he was 42 years old.
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Additional Market Information

Please note: several comparables listed are of signed photographs. The lot being offered has not been examined out of frame.

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  • Robert Mapplethorpe

    Ken Moody
    gelatin silver print, mntd
    (H 19.1, W 15.2) in.
    (48.4 x 38.5) cm.
    Ed. 3/10
    Sold for: US$10,625
    Thursday, October 06, 2011
    Christie's New York
    Lot 00136
  • Robert Mapplethorpe

    Milton Moore
    gelatin silver print
    (H 15, W 15) in.
    (38.1 x 38.1) cm.
    Ed. 1/10
    Sold for: US$28,050
    Thursday, February 24, 2011
    Wright
    Lot 00194
  • Robert Mapplethorpe

    Ken moody
    photographs, silver print
    (H 14, W 14) in.
    (35.6 x 35.6) cm.
    Ed. 3/10
    Sold for: US$11,500
    Tuesday, November 09, 2010
    artnet Auctions
    Lot 36465
  • Robert Mapplethorpe

    Thomas
    gelatin silver print, mntd
    (H 19.2, W 19.1) in.
    (48.8 x 48.5) cm.
    Ed. 1/10
    Sold for: US$32,200
    Thursday, October 18, 2007
    Christie's New York
    Lot 00459
  • Robert Mapplethorpe

    Thomas
    gelatin silver print, mntd
    (H 19.2, W 19.2) in.
    (48.8 x 48.8) cm.
    Ed. 8/10
    Sold for: US$28,800
    Monday, April 23, 2007
    Christie's New York
    Lot 00246
  • Robert Mapplethorpe

    Ken Moody
    gelatin silver print, mntd
    (H 15.3, W 15.3) in.
    (38.8 x 38.8) cm.
    Sold for: US$18,000
    Wednesday, April 26, 2006
    Phillips de Pury & Company New York
    Lot 00183
  • Robert Mapplethorpe

    Ken Moody (With lily)
    gelatin silver print, mntd
    (H 15.1, W 15.1) in.
    (38.4 x 38.4) cm.
    Sold for: US$18,000
    Wednesday, April 26, 2006
    Phillips de Pury & Company New York
    Lot 00184
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