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Lot Essay
In 1977, Robert Mapplethorpe had his debut solo exhibition at the Holly Solomon Gallery in New York City. The exhibition was comprised of unique photographic constructions, outfitted with custom mats (often stretched with velvet or silk) and frames.
Chrysanthemum, 1977, is not only one of Mapplethorpe's first photographs of a flower later to become one of his most important and most photographed subjects, but was also included in his first solo exhibition. It is an early, unique work and in it one can already see many of the figurative and formal concerns that would come to be of central importance in his entire oeuvre.
Chrysanthemum, 1977, is not only one of Mapplethorpe's first photographs of a flower later to become one of his most important and most photographed subjects, but was also included in his first solo exhibition. It is an early, unique work and in it one can already see many of the figurative and formal concerns that would come to be of central importance in his entire oeuvre.