Photograph, gelatin silver print on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
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>
Frogs
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
animals: fish and aquatic life
frog
kitchen
objects
plate
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
Frogs
support: 374 × 373 mm
frame: 644 × 621 × 38 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
<p>Mapplethorpe rarely photographed nature in the ‘wild’. Here, like his flower photographs, he has removed the subject from its natural environment. Although considering frogs’ unpredictability, especially in comparison to flowers, Mapplethorpe has managed to capture eight within a perfectly balanced composition. With all points of reference removed, the plate has become a white circle, suspended on a black background. The frogs appear to have gathered contently across the surface of the plate, oblivious to the religious connotations of sacrifice and the humourous allusion to the well-known French delicacy of frogs’ legs.</p>

Online caption
2009-04-16T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
animals: fish and aquatic life frog kitchen objects plate