Articulated in both word and image, the catalogue also traces Mapplethorpe's complex relationship to the history of art more broadly, ranging from Neoclassicism to Surrealism, with comparisons to the work of Jacques-Louis David, Antonio Canova, Auguste Rodin, Man Ray, and more. In this light, a third essay by Guggenheim curator Jennifer Blessing traces allegorical representations in the 19th and 20th centuries' history of photography, with reference to Mapplethorpe's oeuvre. Blessing discusses examples of highly stylized, theatrical and non-naturalistic scenes and portraits, suggesting that these mannered images are determined by the clash between idealistic intent of their makers and the realism of photographic representation.
- ISBN10 0892073136
- ISBN13 9780892073139
- Publish Date 2 October 2004
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 19 June 2009
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Guggenheim Museum Publications,U.S.
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 232
- Language English