- 76
Robert Mapplethorpe
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 GBP
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Description
- Robert Mapplethorpe
- ‘Calla Lily’, 1988
- Dye transfer print
Dye-transfer print, flush-mounted to card. Signed, titled, dated and numbered 2/7 in ink in the Estate copyright stamp on the reverse. Mounted and framed.
Provenance
Christie's London, Photographs, 15 May 2008, lot 49
Literature
Mapplethorpe: The Complete Flowers, teNeues, Krefeld, 2006, ill. pl. 186;
Flowers: Mapplethorpe, Little, Brown & Co., London, 1990, ill. pl. 31.
Flowers: Mapplethorpe, Little, Brown & Co., London, 1990, ill. pl. 31.
Condition
This print is in overall excellent condition. With some very light discolouration to the paper in the margins, away from the image and an extremely light hairline scratch in the lower right quadrant.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
Robert Mapplethorpe’s style came to be known as simple and stylish, yet erotic and sadomasochistic. Calla Lily is an exceptional work presented with the same visual imagery portrayed in the explicit sexual erotica of his nude works. His compositions maintained a stark, yet simple undertone that was achieved with his common use of minimal elegant black-and-white photography. He used this style to explore binary relationships between male and female. In Calla Lily, the flower symbolizes the female but Mapplethorpe has presented it as a dangerous male organ, the juxtaposition of the dark background and colourful lily augment the struggles of gender relations. When he became ill, the flowers and their restricted palette had a suggestion of death, representing Mapplethorpe’s own mortality when he passed away at 42 from an AIDS related illness.