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>
Self Portrait
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
adults
arts and entertainment
body
cane / walking stick
clothing and personal items
emotions, concepts and ideas
formal qualities
hand
head / face
man
Mapplethorpe, Robert
named individuals
objects
people
photographer
photographic
portraits
self-portraits
skull
work and occupations
<p>In this black and white self-portrait the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe’s head, which faces the camera directly, is positioned near the top right-hand corner of the image, while in the opposite corner his right hand grips a cane topped with a small human skull. Mapplethorpe wears black clothing that covers his torso, neck and arms, rendering them indistinguishable from the black background. This creates the illusion that his head is floating in empty space and serves to emphasise the stark paleness of his skin. The size of the hand in relation to the head indicates that it is closer to the camera, suggesting that Mapplethorpe was sitting down when this shot was taken, and that the cane and his right hand were positioned infront of him.</p>
paper print photograph gelatin silver
26 April 2009 – 27 June 2009
2009-06-27
26 April 2009 – 27 June 2009
2009-06-27
2009-04-26
Inverness Museum & Art Gallery (Inverness, UK)
http://www.invernessmuseum.com
2009-04-26
ARTIST ROOMS 2009: Robert Mapplethorpe
Loan-out
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
1 March 2012 – 8 July 2012
2012-07-08
1 March 2012 – 8 July 2012
2012-07-08
2012-03-01
Burgh Hall (Dunoon, UK)
2012-03-01
ARTIST ROOMS 2012: Mapplethorpe Scottish Tour
Loan-out
20 July 2012 – 28 October 2012
2012-10-28
20 July 2012 – 28 October 2012
2012-10-28
2012-07-20
Linlithgow Burgh Halls (Linlithgow, UK)
2012-07-20
ARTIST ROOMS 2012: Mapplethorpe Scottish Tour
Loan-out
10 November 2012 – 27 April 2013
2013-04-27
10 November 2012 – 27 April 2013
2013-04-27
2012-11-10
Perth Museum & Art Gallery (Perth, UK)
http://www.pkc.gov.uk/
2012-11-10
ARTIST ROOMS 2012: Mapplethorpe Scottish Tour
Loan-out
11 May 2013 – 11 August 2013
2013-08-11
11 May 2013 – 11 August 2013
2013-08-11
2013-05-11
Old Gala House (Galashiels, UK)
2013-05-11
ARTIST ROOMS 2013: Robert Mapplethorpe
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
28 February 2015 – 23 May 2015
2015-05-23
28 February 2015 – 23 May 2015
2015-05-23
2015-02-28
Clydebank Museum (Clydebank, UK)
2015-02-28
ARTIST ROOMS 2015: Robert Mapplethorpe
Loan-out
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
13 July 2018 – 10 March 2019
2019-03-10
13 July 2018 – 10 March 2019
2019-03-10
2018-07-13
Tate Modern (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/
2018-07-13
Intimacy, Activism and AIDS
Collection based display
26 October 2024 – 25 March 2025
2025-03-25
26 October 2024 – 25 March 2025
2025-03-25
2024-10-26
Scottish National Portrait Gallery (Edinburgh, UK)
2024-10-26
SNPG 2024: 40 Years of Photography at NGS
Collection based display
Self Portrait
support: 577 × 481 mm
frame: 850 × 747 × 22 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 self-portrait the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe’s head, which faces the camera directly, is positioned near the top right-hand corner of the image, while in the opposite corner his right hand grips a cane topped with a small human skull. Mapplethorpe wears black clothing that covers his torso, neck and arms, rendering them indistinguishable from the black background. This creates the illusion that his head is floating in empty space and serves to emphasise the stark paleness of his skin. The size of the hand in relation to the head indicates that it is closer to the camera, suggesting that Mapplethorpe was sitting down when this shot was taken, and that the cane and his right hand were positioned infront of him.</p>
<p>The portrait was taken in 1988 in New York, the year before Mapplethorpe died from an AIDS-related illness. Mapplethorpe had originally intended to take a photograph of his walking cane ornamented with a carved skull, however, while he was preparing the shoot he decided to put on a black turtleneck jumper and create this self-portrait instead. The shot was taken by the artist’s younger brother Edward, also a photographer, who was helped by Robert’s studio assistant Brian English. Edward Mapplethorpe began his career under the pseudonym Edward Maxey, assuming his mother’s maiden name, and the influence of his brother’s style is evident in his work. Patricia Morrisroe, Robert Mapplethorpe’s biographer, notes that Edward ‘intuitively’ understood what his brother was hoping to achieve in this image, and so focused the camera on the hand holding the skull cane, slightly blurring Mapplethorpe’s head (Morrisroe 1995, p.335).</p>
<p>Portraiture is a significant genre in Mapplethorpe’s work. He photographed fellow artists, writers, singers, art collectors and curators, although his most photographed subject was himself. The critic Peter Conrad asserts that Mapplethorpe considered personality to be ‘serial’, a concept which he applied to his self-portraits (Conrad 1988, p.12). The artist depicted himself with devil horns, dressed as a woman, yielding a knife ready to thrust (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-self-portrait-ar00227" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>AR00227</span></a>), and in the guise of a soldier or terrorist holding a rifle in front of an inverted pentagram, a symbol of the devil (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-self-portrait-ar00226" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>AR00226</span></a>). It has been suggested that in this 1988 self-portrait the artist is no longer playing a role. Instead it is a more intimate portrayal compared to previous depictions of himself. Mapplethorpe appears gaunt and weathered as this portrait was taken just months before his death. The slight blurring of his head in relation to his hand gives the impression that he is gradually fading away.</p>
<p>Mapplethorpe produced increasingly macabre and morbid work at this time, exemplified by his photographs of human skulls (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-skull-ar00223" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>AR00223</span></a>). He considered the skull the purest sculptural image of all for its clean lines were undisturbed by flesh or hair (Morrisroe 1995, p.335).</p>
<p>
<b>Further reading</b>
<br/>Peter Conrad, ‘Twelve Facets of Mapplethorpe’ in <i>Mapplethorpe Portraits: Photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe 1975–87</i>, exhibition catalogue, National Portrait Gallery, London 1988.<br/>Patricia Morrisroe, <i>Mapplethorpe. A Biography</i>,<i> </i>London 1995, p.335.</p>
<p>Susan Mc Ateer<br/>The University of Edinburgh<br/>February 2013</p>
<p>
<i>The University of Edinburgh is a research partner of ARTIST ROOMS</i>.</p>
</div>

Summary
2013-07-05T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
<p>In this late photograph, Mapplethorpe is no longer playing a role, as he did in so many of his earlier self-portraits. It was taken a few months before he died from an AIDS-related illness in 1989. In it he faces straight ahead, as if he were looking death in the face. The skull-headed cane that he holds in his right hand reinforces this reading. Mapplethorpe is wearing black, so that his head floats free, disembodied, as if he were already half-way to death. Mapplethorpe even photographs his head very slightly out of focus (compared with his hand) to suggest his gradual fading away.</p>

Online caption
2009-04-16T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
adults arts and entertainment body cane / walking stick clothing and personal items emotions, concepts and ideas formal qualities hand head / face man Mapplethorpe, Robert named individuals objects people photographer photographic portraits self-portraits skull work and occupations