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Library Journal Review

Though Mapplethorpe (1946-89) may figure in the public consciousness for his controversial X Portfolio, his strong reputation in art circles is grounded on his stark formalism, his celebrity portraits, and his photographs of flowers. Indeed, the flowers consistently outpace all his other works at the annual auctions. This third volume in Random House's collaboration with the Mapplethorpe Foundation (after Mapplethorpe, 1990, and Altars, LJ 2/1/96) conveys the luminosity and seductive beauty of 120 of Mapplethorpe's creations in amazingly rich reproductions. A short but insightful essay by poet Ashbery delves into the artist's uneasy relation to his floral subjects and places them within his greater oeuvre. Mapplethorpe photographed flowers throughout his career, and the images here represent all periods and styles, including color and toned prints. The book's only drawback is the editors' choice to present the pictures out of chronological order, forcing the reader to flip back and forth to discern shifts in the artist's manipulations of light and depth. Still, with twice as many illustrations as Bulfinch's Flowers (LJ 12/90), which showed only color works, this sumptuous book belongs in all academic and most larger public libraries.‘Eric Bryant, "Library Journal" (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.