Robert Mapplethorpe - Flowers - 1990
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Robert Mapplethorpe – Flowers, a first edition hardback with dust jacket, published in 1990 by Bulfinch, in English, 102 pages, 31 × 26 cm.
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Description from the seller
Robert Mapplethorpe’s Flowers is a remarkable exploration of one of the photographer’s recurring subjects and a defining example of his ability to transform botanical forms into highly controlled studies of beauty, structure and sensuality.
Published by Schirmer/Mosel in Munich in 1990, Flowers brings together Mapplethorpe’s elegant still lifes of flowers, photographed with the same precision and formal discipline that characterizes his portraits and studies of the human body. Tulips, orchids, lilies, roses and other botanical subjects are isolated against simple backgrounds, allowing their shapes, textures and delicate imperfections to become the central focus.
Mapplethorpe approaches each flower almost as a sculptural object. His precise compositions and carefully controlled lighting emphasize symmetry, volume and surface, while the contrast between the fragility of the flowers and the rigor of the photographic treatment creates much of the work’s distinctive tension. The images can appear simultaneously classical and contemporary, sensual and austere.
The book demonstrates how Mapplethorpe could find extraordinary visual intensity in apparently simple subjects. Flowers becomes less a conventional botanical study than a meditation on beauty, form and ephemerality, connecting the natural world to the same aesthetic concerns that run throughout his photographic practice.
This copy is from the **first edition, second printing**, published by Schirmer/Mosel in 1990. It represents an important publication within Mapplethorpe’s work and offers an intimate view of one of the subjects to which he repeatedly returned throughout his career.
Seller's Story
Dartbooks is a specialized photography bookshop based in Barcelona, dedicated to photobooks, rare and out-of-print editions, and historically significant publications. With a strong focus on Japanese photography, Dartbooks was founded to provide continuity to a field that requires depth, expertise, and careful curation.
The bookshop was established after the closure of Kowasa, a landmark reference for photography books in Spain. Its disappearance left a clear gap for photographers, collectors, and institutions in need of a space with a serious and knowledgeable approach to the photobook. Dartbooks emerged in response to that need, not as a replacement, but as part of the natural evolution of a cultural ecosystem.
Dartbooks operates with a curatorial mindset, shaped by long-term engagement with photography and book collecting. The project functions as a book hunting platform for collectors, professionals, and libraries worldwide, and also provides advisory support to other bookshops seeking to develop coherent and specialized photography collections.
The catalogue includes new publications, rare and out-of-print titles, monographs, retrospectives, self-published works, signed copies, and editions produced directly by photographers through their own imprints. The selection reflects a sustained commitment to photography as a form of visual narration, where images construct meaning beyond text.
Although rooted in the Gràcia neighbourhood of Barcelona, Dartbooks serves an international audience. Its community includes collectors, professionals, and institutions from France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and beyond, both through the physical space and the online platform.
Dartbooks understands the photobook not merely as an object of consumption, but as a cultural artifact that documents artistic practices, historical contexts, and personal visions. The bookshop functions simultaneously as a place of discovery, an archive in constant growth, and a point of connection between photographers, publishers, and readers.
Robert Mapplethorpe’s Flowers is a remarkable exploration of one of the photographer’s recurring subjects and a defining example of his ability to transform botanical forms into highly controlled studies of beauty, structure and sensuality.
Published by Schirmer/Mosel in Munich in 1990, Flowers brings together Mapplethorpe’s elegant still lifes of flowers, photographed with the same precision and formal discipline that characterizes his portraits and studies of the human body. Tulips, orchids, lilies, roses and other botanical subjects are isolated against simple backgrounds, allowing their shapes, textures and delicate imperfections to become the central focus.
Mapplethorpe approaches each flower almost as a sculptural object. His precise compositions and carefully controlled lighting emphasize symmetry, volume and surface, while the contrast between the fragility of the flowers and the rigor of the photographic treatment creates much of the work’s distinctive tension. The images can appear simultaneously classical and contemporary, sensual and austere.
The book demonstrates how Mapplethorpe could find extraordinary visual intensity in apparently simple subjects. Flowers becomes less a conventional botanical study than a meditation on beauty, form and ephemerality, connecting the natural world to the same aesthetic concerns that run throughout his photographic practice.
This copy is from the **first edition, second printing**, published by Schirmer/Mosel in 1990. It represents an important publication within Mapplethorpe’s work and offers an intimate view of one of the subjects to which he repeatedly returned throughout his career.
Seller's Story
Dartbooks is a specialized photography bookshop based in Barcelona, dedicated to photobooks, rare and out-of-print editions, and historically significant publications. With a strong focus on Japanese photography, Dartbooks was founded to provide continuity to a field that requires depth, expertise, and careful curation.
The bookshop was established after the closure of Kowasa, a landmark reference for photography books in Spain. Its disappearance left a clear gap for photographers, collectors, and institutions in need of a space with a serious and knowledgeable approach to the photobook. Dartbooks emerged in response to that need, not as a replacement, but as part of the natural evolution of a cultural ecosystem.
Dartbooks operates with a curatorial mindset, shaped by long-term engagement with photography and book collecting. The project functions as a book hunting platform for collectors, professionals, and libraries worldwide, and also provides advisory support to other bookshops seeking to develop coherent and specialized photography collections.
The catalogue includes new publications, rare and out-of-print titles, monographs, retrospectives, self-published works, signed copies, and editions produced directly by photographers through their own imprints. The selection reflects a sustained commitment to photography as a form of visual narration, where images construct meaning beyond text.
Although rooted in the Gràcia neighbourhood of Barcelona, Dartbooks serves an international audience. Its community includes collectors, professionals, and institutions from France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and beyond, both through the physical space and the online platform.
Dartbooks understands the photobook not merely as an object of consumption, but as a cultural artifact that documents artistic practices, historical contexts, and personal visions. The bookshop functions simultaneously as a place of discovery, an archive in constant growth, and a point of connection between photographers, publishers, and readers.
Details
Number of books
1
Subject
Photography
Book title
Flowers
Author/ Illustrator
Robert Mapplethorpe
Condition
Very good
Publication year oldest item
1990
Height
31 cm
Edition
1st Edition
Width
26 cm
Language
English
Original language
Yes
Publisher
Bulfinch
Binding/ Material
Hardback
Extras
Dust jacket
Number of pages
102
