Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2007.

Mario Amaya

Artist Robert Mapplethorpe (American, 1946 - 1989)

Date1978

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsOverall, Image: 14 × 13 15/16 in. (35.6 × 35.4 cm)
Overall: 19 15/16 × 15 7/8 in. (50.6 × 40.3 cm)
Overall, Mat: 28 × 24 in. (71.1 × 61 cm)

ClassificationsPhotography

Credit LineGift of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation

Object number2007.9

Terms

Portrait
Man
Black
White

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis gelatin silver print is dry mounted to board, depicting Marior Amaya, the American art critic and former director of the chrysler Museum of Art. Amaya is shown in this photograph on the right edge of the photo frame and shown up close. He is wearing a white suit and is looking out at the viewer.

Label TextRobert Mapplethorpe American (1946-1989) Mario Amaya, 1978 Gelatin-silver print Gift of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation 2007.9 © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation Mapplethorpe studied drawing and painting before experimenting with a Polaroid camera in the early 1970s. Many of his first photographs, which are portraits of his artist and socialite friends, were taken in a style similar to that of Andy Warhol, whose work he admired. His attention to the formal elements of composition and contrast is evident in his flower arrangements and nudes, as well as in his more confrontational depictions of eroticism and male sexuality. Despite the controversial nature of much of his work, Mapplethorpe has earned a place in the history of photography as a master of the classically inspired portrait. Mapplethorpe's first museum exhibition and the publication of his first catalogue took place at the Chrysler Museum in 1978. The person responsible for that coup was the Chrysler's director, Mario Amaya. This portrait of Amaya was made during the same year, most likely around the time of the exhibition. It represents a bit of Chrysler history as well as being an elegantly composed and beautifully executed portrait.