Photograph, gelatin silver print on paper
Portraits
Tate Collection
Works with images
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ARTIST ROOMS
National Heritage Memorial Fund
Art Fund
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/robert-mapplethorpe-11413" aria-label="More by Robert Mapplethorpe" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Robert Mapplethorpe</a>
Andy Warhol
ARTIST ROOMS
Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008
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Warhol, Andy
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<p>In this black and white portrait photograph the artist Andy Warhol stands at the centre of the picture against a plain black background, framed from his head to his hands, which are loosely joined in a ‘V’ shape and somewhat reminiscent of a handcuffed position. He wears a silver wig, which is ruffled and in slight disarray, and a black leather jacket and scarf which visually blend in with the black background. The lighting emphasises the shiny quality of the leather jacket and highlights Warhol’s wig and pale complexion. The subject stands straight with his head angled slightly to the right while his eyes look directly at the camera with a blank expression.</p>
paper print photograph gelatin silver
19 December 2009 – 27 March 2010
2010-03-27
19 December 2009 – 27 March 2010
2010-03-27
2009-12-19
Graves Art Gallery (Sheffield, UK)
http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/coresite/html/graves.asp
2009-12-19
ARTIST ROOMS 2009: Robert Mapplethorpe
Loan-out
25 September 2010 – 21 November 2010
2010-11-21
25 September 2010 – 21 November 2010
2010-11-21
2010-09-25
Towner (Eastbourne, UK)
http://www.townereastbourne.org.uk/
2010-09-25
ARTIST ROOMS 2010: Robert Mapplethorpe
Loan-out
27 March 2011 – 26 June 2011
2011-06-26
27 March 2011 – 26 June 2011
2011-06-26
2011-03-27
John Hansard Gallery (Southampton, UK)
http://www.soton.ac.uk/~hansard/
2011-03-27
ARTIST ROOMS 2011: Andy Warhol
Loan-out
9 May 2014 – 26 October 2014
2014-10-26
9 May 2016 – 26 October 2016
2016-10-26
2016-05-09
Tate Modern (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/
2014-05-09
Mapplethorpe Self Portraits and Portraits
Collection based display
8 August 2015 – 7 November 2015
2015-11-07
8 August 2015 – 7 November 2015
2015-11-07
2015-08-08
Aberystwyth Arts Centre (Aberystwyth, UK)
2015-08-08
ARTIST ROOMS 2015: Robert Mapplethorpe
Loan-out
28 November 2015 – 26 April 2016
2016-04-26
28 November 2015 – 26 April 2016
2016-04-26
2015-11-28
Bowes Museum (Barnard Castle, UK)
http://www.bowesmuseum.org.uk
2015-11-28
ARTIST ROOMS 2015: Robert Mapplethorpe
Loan-out
Andy Warhol
support: 570 × 475 mm
frame: 913 × 793 × 28 mm
<a href="/search?gid=999999788" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">ARTIST ROOMS</a>
Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the <a href="/search?gid=999999967" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">National Heritage Memorial Fund</a> and the <a href="/search?gid=999999968" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Art Fund</a> 2008
<div class="text">
<p>In this black and white portrait photograph the artist Andy Warhol stands at the centre of the picture against a plain black background, framed from his head to his hands, which are loosely joined in a ‘V’ shape and somewhat reminiscent of a handcuffed position. He wears a silver wig, which is ruffled and in slight disarray, and a black leather jacket and scarf which visually blend in with the black background. The lighting emphasises the shiny quality of the leather jacket and highlights Warhol’s wig and pale complexion. The subject stands straight with his head angled slightly to the right while his eyes look directly at the camera with a blank expression.</p>
<p>This photograph was taken by Robert Mapplethorpe in New York City in 1986 (although it was not printed until 1990). By this time Mapplethorpe and Warhol had met a number of times. Some of these meetings resulted in further portraits, such as those taken in 1983 (Tate <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/mapplethorpe-andy-warhol-ar00219" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>AR00219</span></a> and <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/mapplethorpe-andy-warhol-ar00150" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>AR00150</span></a>). In one of these portraits (Tate <span>AR00150</span>) Warhol assumes a pose similar to that adopted in this image, facing the camera with a blank expression, with his hands forming a ‘V’ shape in front of him. Mapplethorpe always encouraged his sitters to feel as comfortable as possible while being photographed (see Indiana and Mapplethorpe 1988, p.21). He allowed his subjects to play a role in front of the camera, which Warhol does here with his direct stare and self-conscious pose.</p>
<p>During the period in which this photograph was taken, Mapplethorpe’s portraits formed a significant element of his work. In 1986 the photographer was commissioned by curator Richard Marshall to take portraits for the book <i>50 New York Artists, </i>which included shots of Jasper Johns, Willem de Kooning, James Rosenquist and another portrait of Warhol.</p>
<p>While Warhol is captured in this image with a characteristic stark gaze, Mapplethorpe sensed a softening of the artist’s rigid exterior in a conversation with Warhol near the time of his death:</p>
<p class="cttext">
</p><blockquote>I think he was finally becoming much more human somehow and he was voicing what he really thought as opposed to what people would react to. I think that was sort of one thing that I was really shocked about, that he died at a moment when I think he was finally sort of feeling comfortable somehow.</blockquote>
<blockquote>(Mapplethorpe Quoted in <i>Arena: Robert Mapplethorpe</i>, dir. by Nigel Finch, BBC television documentary, 18 March 1988.)</blockquote>
<p>Mapplethorpe had other important connections with Andy Warhol which may inform consideration of this portrait. After seeing Warhol’s film <i>Chelsea Girls</i> in the 1960s, Mapplethorpe was motivated to explore the darker side of life (see Morrisroe 1995, pp.43–4). This influence is explicit in the photographer’s erotic explorations of sexuality through his work and also through his self–portraiture. The singer Patti Smith noted that Mapplethorpe ‘loved Andy Warhol and considered him our most important living artist. It was as close to hero worship as he ever got’ (Patti Smith, <i>Just Kids, </i>London 2010, p.69).</p>
<p>
<b>Further reading</b>
<br/>Gary Indiana and Robert Mapplethorpe, ‘Robert Mapplethorpe’, <i>BOMB, </i>no.22, Winter 1988, pp.18–23.<br/>Patricia Morrisroe, <i>Mapplethorpe. A Biography</i>,<i> </i>London 1995.<br/>Arthur C. Danto, <i>Playing with the Edge: The Photographic Achievement of Robert Mapplethorpe</i>, Berkeley and London 1995.</p>
<p>Karita Kuusisto and Susan Mc Ateer<br/>The University of Edinburgh<br/>January 2013</p>
<p>
<i>The University of Edinburgh is a research partner of ARTIST ROOMS</i>.</p>
</div>

Summary
2013-06-27T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
<p>Andy Warhol (1928-1987) was one of the most influential artists of the late twentieth century. Indeed, Mapplethorpe had idolised him while he was studying at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in the late 1960s. However, by 1973 when they showed together at the Gotham Book Mart in New York, they were distrustful of each other. This portrait shows Warhol wearing a black leather jacket and scarf that merges with the background, creating a triangular void between his head and hands. His hands are held in a slightly unnatural, awkward position to the front, almost as though handcuffed. His silver wig is ruffled and messy but his blank expression gives nothing away.</p>

Online caption
2009-04-16T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
adults artist, multi-media arts and entertainment body clothing and personal items emotions, concepts and ideas formal qualities hair individuals: male jacket man named individuals objects people photographic portraits Warhol, Andy work and occupations