PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE DONATED TO ITALIAN MUSEUMS

THREE IMPORTANT PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE (1946-1989) HAVE BEN DONATED BY THE ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE FOUNDATION TO THE PERMANENT COLLECTIONS OF THE RENOWNED FLORENTINE STATE MUSEUMS, THE GALLERIA DELL'ACCADEMIA AND THE GALLERIA DEGLI UFFIZI. A CEREMONY WAS HELD RECENTLY IN THE CITY TO MARK THE HISTORIC OCCASION. MAPPLETHORPE'S 'VON HACKENDAHL', IS A STUDY OF A MALE POSITIONED LIKE AN ANCIENT ATHLETE, AND 'DERRICK CROSS', IS A STUDY OF THE MODEL IN A YOGA POSE, REPRESENT THE FIRST WORKS BY AN AMERICAN ARTIST TO ENTER THE COLLECTION OF TE GALLERIA DELL'ACCEDEMIA AND ARE AMONG THE ONLY MODERN WORKS BY ANY ARTIST. THE PHOTOGRAPHS, WHICH ILLUSTRATE MAPPLETHORPE'S PASSION FOR THE HUMAN FORM AND HIS TECHNICAL AND FORMAL MASTERY, WERE DONATED BY THE FOUNDATION FOLLOWING THE SUCCESS OF THE RECENT EXHIBITION AT THE MUSEUM, 'ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE: PERFECTION IN FORM', WHICH FEATURED BOTH WORKS. THE EXHIBITION, WHICH SHOWED WORKS BY MAPPLETHORPE IN THE COMPANY OF MICHELANGELO'S SCULPTURES AND DRAWINGS, WAS THE FIRST TO BE DEDICATED TO A POST-RENAISSANCE ARTIST AT THE ACCADEMIA. DUE TO THE POPULARITY OF THE SHOW DURING ITS INITIAL FOUR-MONTH RUN, THE MUSEUM EXTENDED IT BY ANOTHER FOUR MONTHS THROUGH JANUARY 2010. THE ARTIST'S 'SELF PORTRAIT' HAS ALSO BEEN DONATED TO THE GALLERIA DEGLI UFFIZI, FOLLOWING A REQUEST BY THE MUSEUM TO INCLUDE A MAPPLETHORPE WORK IN ITS CELEBRATED SELF-PORTRAITS COLLECTION. THE PHOTOGRAPH, WHICH PICTURES THE ARTIST WEARING LIPSTICK AND A FEATHER BOA, IS A CELEBRATION OF HIS TRANSGRESSIVE SIDE AS WELL AS A REFERENCE TO THE ARTIST MARCEL DUCHAMP, TO WHOM HE STRONGLY RELATED. THE PHOTOGRAPH WILL JOIN THE WORLD'S LARGEST COLLECTION OF SELF PORTRAITS, CONSISTING OF APPROXIMATELY 1,700 WORKS, WHICH WAS FOUNDED IN THE 17th CENTURY BY CARDINAL LEOPOLDO DE'MEDICI.