(after) Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe Patti Smith 1978 exhibit poster
1978

About

Original 1970s Patti Smith Robert Mapplethorpe Exhibition Poster: Published on occasion of, 'Patti Smith Drawings / Robert Mapplethorpe Film and Stills: Robert Miller Gallery, New York, June 7 1978.' Features offset images of a Mapplethorpe drawing & 1978 photo of Patti Smith. Original 1970s post-marking on verso. Fantastic frame piece. RARE. Offset lithograph. 20 x 29.75 inches Scattered signs of handling; fold-lines as issued; post-marked and addressed on verso; otherwise good vintage condition (no rips, tears, stains etc). Unsigned from an edition of unknown; scarce. "Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe had a unique relationship: they were friends, lovers, artistic collaborators and soul mates. Mapplethorpe and Smith met in 1967 and quickly become lovers; they would live with one another for the next few years. The years they spent together proved to be formative to their artistic development; while Mapplethorpe emerged in the mid-1970s as a successful artist, Smith would achieve simultaneous success as a poet and musician, associated with the punk music genre. Smith was photographed multiple times by Mapplethorpe and would become one of his most frequent sitters. Mapplethorpe photographed Smith for the cover of both Witt, her 1973 volume of poetry, and her album Horses in 1975. Horses would go on to achieve iconic status in popular music and define Smith’s androgynous and uncompromising style – a photograph from the same session is in the ARTIST ROOMS collection, Patti Smith 1975. Photographed here with her arms and lips open, one hand suggestively holds a tie which is also around her neck while she leans against a wall. Mapplethorpe photographs her as Smith describes it, ‘at her most confident’. Her pose is at once vulnerable and confrontational. By the late 1970s Smith had achieved commercial and critical success. Mapplethorpe would photograph Smith again for her fourth album, Waves in 1979, in the same apartment used for the Horses shoot. This would be Smith’s last album prior to a nine-year-long hiatus from her recording career. Smith, having met and fallen in love with the American musician Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith, was ready to focus on family life and Waves reflected a new sense of calm, charm and sincerity. Mapplethorpe captures this in the image Patti Smith 1979 for the album’s cover. Smith, with a piercing stare, is somewhat subdued; the light fabric of her dress, the tree that obscures part of the body and the doves that rest on either hand give the image a serene, almost arcadian feel." (source: Tate Modern)

Details

Artist
(after) Robert Mapplethorpe
Creation Year
1978
Medium
Lithograph,Offset

Movement & Style
Pop Art
Condition
Good
Condition Details
Fold-lines as originally issued.

Period
1970-1979
Dimensions
H 20 in. x W 29.75 in. x D 0.1 in.H 50.8 cm x W 75.57 cm x D 2.54 mm
Gallery Location
NEW YORK, NY

Reference Number
LU35434904062

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