The triptych portrait of Brice Marden (part of a number of multiple-panel photographic objects produced by Mapplethorpe in the late 1970s), includes one empty section that contains only (plexi) glass, which reveals the wall behind. This concept not only makes a reference to the monochromatic panels of Marden's own paintings, but startles the eye by forcing it to read depth - to look through the picture. ... (Mapplethorpe) attempts to reconcile the formal concerns of color, texture, form, and balance with the subjective and emotive associations of the photographic image. He wants to allow the photograph to be experienced in a different way, to be accepted on the same aesthetic and critical grounds as painting and sculpture.

This tryptich is unique.