Robert Mapplethorpe (1946–1989)

Invitation to Light Gallery opening, January 6, 1973

Details

Robert Mapplethorpe (1946–1989)
Invitation to Light Gallery opening, January 6, 1973
gelatin silver print from Polaroid negative with adhesive dot
embossed photographer's credit (margin); typed, 'Robert Mapplethorpe/Backroom at/LIGHT' with gallery address and hours (verso)
image: 3 x 3 3/4 in. (7.6 x 9.5 cm.)
sheet: 3 1/2 x 4 1/2 in. (8.9 x 11.3 cm.)

Literature

Sylvia Wolf, Polaroids: Mapplethorpe, Prestel, Munich, Berlin, London, New York, 2008, pl. 193, p. 233.

Lot Essay

On the occasion of his first solo exhibition, Mapplethorpe made hundreds of prints of his image, Untitled (self-portrait), using the original Polaroid negative. Each print was treated with the strategically applied white adhesive dot, enclosed in a protective Polaroid sleeve reading, 'DON'T TOUCH HERE', and sent out in a cream-colored Tiffany envelope as an invitation to the exhibition.

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