Original subtitles

♪ ♪

Jesse Helms:

Robert Mapplethorpe,

a known homosexual

who died of AIDS

and who spent

promoting homosexuality.

the last years of his life

Now, if any senator doesn't

know what I'm talking about

in terms of the art

that I have protested,

look at the pictures!

Now, any senator who thinks

that I'm attacking

aesthetic art...

I don't know whether

can see it or not,

the television cameras

- I'm gonna be fast enough - With it that they can't.

But I want senators

if they have any doubt,

to come over here,

and look at the pictures.

Reporter:

down the Mapplethorpe exhibit.

In Cincinnati, police closed

We are sending

exhibit to trial.

the Mapplethorpe

Helms:

Look at the pictures.

Come over here.

Alex Trebeck:

works led to a dispute...

One of two artists whose

- Helms: - Look at the pictures. - Look at the pictures.

Look at the pictures.

(beeps)

Who is Mapplethorpe?

- Dan Rather: - The art gallery - And its director

Are charged with obscenity

the late Robert Mapplethorpe.

for exhibiting photographs by

- Helms: - Look at the pictures.

Mapplethorpe's work

is highly controversial.

- Can I show it to you? - I don't want to look at it.

Helms:

that it's art.

I don't even acknowledge

- Protesters: - Keep your hands off!

- Helms: - I don't even acknowledge

- That the fellow who did it - Was an artist.

I think he was a jerk...

- (echoing): - Jerk, jerk.

♪ ♪

- Archivist: - This is one of five vaults

- In which Mapplethorpe's - Archive resides.

- Audiovisual material is - In here

Along with more ephemeral

and personal correspondence.

paperwork from his studio

Photographs are

in a cooler environment,

and Polaroids are in

an even colder environment.

♪ ♪

Woman:

is to really make a case

One of our big challenges

- for why we're doing - Two concurrent exhibitions...

- Man: Right. - About one artist.

This is two sides

of one coin.

Yeah.

There is a duality that runs

work and life

through Mapplethorpe's

and we hope to be able

to divide the material

in a way that would

highlight that duality.

This is a box

Right.

of self-portraits.

- Oh. - Oh.

Yeah, biker jacket

from the back.

Yeah.

- I really like - This white piping

And how it leads up

Yeah.

to this other shape.

- That's one - Of the great ones.

Male curator:

people immediately think

When you say Mapplethorpe,

of the controversies that

happened during the '90s.

"Guerrilla Rebel."

Yeah.

Male curator:

being demonized

Mapplethorpe was

by conservative politicians,

so one of our goals was

to humanize Mapplethorpe,

to bring him back into

as a human being.

people's consciousness

It's quite convincing.

- Ah. - Oh.

Mapplethorpe and bullwhip.

I remember it being

a slightly higher contrast.

- It's a different paper. - Right.

- This is a lot warmer - And softer.

Mm-hmm.

The way his hand is,

it's so great,

he's releasing a shadow.

it almost looks like

Yes. Because that cord

of the frame.

comes just to the edge

The cord kind of connects

the viewer with Mapplethorpe.

Yeah.

- Because it's coming - Out of the picture.

As well as the eye contact.

- Right. - Obviously,

It's very defiant.

- He's not hiding his face. - He's not hiding his identity.

He's not hiding

what he's doing.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(shutter clicks)

Robert was just...

my younger brother.

I'm the oldest.

That's myself,

my brother Richard,

Robert, Edward,

Sue, and James.

That's the six of us.

When we were young,

we did a lot of coloring.

Robert always

had weird things.

He'd have a green face,

or... just not the norm.

Purple hair, or something.

- And I'd say, - "Why are you doing that for?

- "That's not the way - It's supposed to be."

As far as, like, photographs,

he never took photographs.

My dad took

a lot of photographs.

Robert, he had no interest

in that at all.

Harry:

moved here in 1949.

My wife and I and the children

I was always interested

in photography,

but none of my kids were

until Eddie.

I had all the equipment

downstairs, a darkroom,

enlarger and printer and dryer

and everything else.

This is the block

we lived on.

- See, all the houses - Were the same?

This is during the snow.

This is Robert here

with two of his friends.

- You know, we had to be home - A certain time for dinner,

And you had to sit

you finished your dinner.

at the table until

Harry:

Robert was this regular kid.

One thing was, his endurance

on a pogo stick.

- He was having competitions - With people.

- He would go all the way around - The block on a pogo stick.

Robert was the pogo stick

of the neighborhood.

champ of 259th Street,

He just could go on forever,

and he was so proud of that.

You know, there's something

that are so much better

about black and white pictures

because they last.

I took this of Robert

in front of our house, right?

The rest of them,

all these, he took of me,

and, I believe, is probably

the first pictures he took.

(organ music playing)

Announcer:

"Sense and Nonsense!"

Nancy:

program in the early '50s.

There was this television

Someone would give them

their blindfolds on

something to taste with

- and you would have - To guess what it is.

That's how we play the game,

of our five senses.

identifying items by means

Well, we Mapplethorpe kids

made our own

"Sense and Nonsense" game.

Robert, little devil

that he was,

went to one of the many

ashtrays around the house,

which were always full,

and put ashes

in my brother's mouth,

and they were fuming.

That's the kind of stuff

needling stuff.

he did, that kind of

So he was

a devilish guy. (laughs)

♪ ♪

We never missed

Mass on Sunday.

We always went to church.

And I still do.

(woman singing opera)

George Stack:

Robert Mapplethorpe

I first met

when I was assigned to

in Floral Park.

Our Lady of the Snows Parish

They were active

in the parish, you know,

so I got to know

the whole family.

So Robert just kind of

took to me,

and I, you know, took to him.

And... he used to paint

me pictures.

He drew me a couple of

Mother, the Virgin Mary,

paintings of the Blessed

and I thought to myself,

by Picasso."

"He's been too influenced

You know? (laughs)

But anyway,

I have to say that, first,

he was the only person I knew

who could sit on a couch

and chew his toenails.

The other thing was,

you'd look at Robert

and I think the first thing

you'd notice is his eyes.

They were huge,

and as if he was

always looking,

always penetrating, always...

you know,

trying to get through.

Mapplethorpe:

suburban America.

I come from this, you know,

It was a very

safe environment,

and it was a good place

to come from

in that it was a good

place to leave.

Stack:

really fit in

He never quite

with all these

other teenage boys, you know?

There was something

very fragile about Robert.

(Mapplethorpe's voice)

Nancy:

I don't know why though.

Robert was mom's favorite.

I can't put my finger

on specific things,

but I always say,

"Oh, Robert was her favorite."

Mapplethorpe:

wasn't enough for me.

Somehow that just

- Robert was smart. - Everything came easy to him.

I worked like a dog

for my marks,

but he graduated at 16.

Mapplethorpe:

I started art school training,

As soon as I could,

and I moved to Brooklyn.

Nancy:

basically against it.

My dad was

My father thought,

you can do it as a hobby,

but what are you ever

gonna do with art?

- Man: - Did you know that photography

And homosexuality share

something in common?

Growing respect for

photography in the art world

occurred simultaneously

- with the growing visibility - Of the gay rights movement.

Each suffered a gauntlet

their coming of age.

of prejudice during

- Just as Mapplethorpe - Was starting out,

To be openly gay was still

very much a cultural taboo.

And photography was

than a utilitarian medium,

considered not much more

an applied art,

a bastard of the arts.

Woman:

when he started Pratt.

He was very young

He just looked like

made fun of him.

a little boy and people

At that time his name

was Bob Mapplethorpe,

and to further diminish him,

they called him "Maypo,"

because that was a children's

cereal back in those days.

♪ I want my Maypo,

I want my Maypo ♪

He was not macho.

Child:

It makes you strong.

(Mapplethorpe's voice)

He told me he would take his

father's negatives to class

and present them

as his own work.

He was a fuckup.

(laughs)

Female curator:

his experience at Pratt

So I was interested in

and how he found himself

as an artist there.

Is that a self-portrait?

- Yes. This one's - Actually ink,

So I'm imagining he, like,

onto his face.

rolled an oil-based ink

- Mm-hmm. Yeah. - Yeah.

- Which is kind of - Hard to comprehend.

The psychedelia of it too.

He was really into acid

at the time.

Man:

a similar background.

We both had

- Right off the bat, - I think we kind of hit it off.

He started taking drugs

and smoked marijuana. LSD.

We both were living on

- candy bars and cigarettes, - Basically,

And he was getting really

really pale-looking...

skinny and we were both

But we smoked, and so

he put LSD in the cigarette.

I completely lost my memory.

And so... I, uh...

- I don't know, - I'm losing track now.

I'm kind of like, having a...

I'm going back there

too much, I guess.

Mapplethorpe:

I'd stay up all night, stoned,

When I was in art school,

- trying to think - What hasn't been done,

And I was obsessed with

a new approach to art

trying to come up with

and to be unique somehow.

Bob and I realized

a little name recognition

you have to get

and sometimes the weird thing

works... can work well for you.

So, somewhere along the way

this little monkey

there, he had purchased

and he named it Scratch,

and I did some really

nice drawings of Scratch.

The monkey had

some bad habits.

The monkey masturbated a lot,

and the monkey

threw crap at you sometimes.

He would walk around with

the monkey on his shoulder

and he was

wearing a black cape.

Robert and I graduated Pratt

in '67,

the Summer of Love

and blah, blah, blah.

And here is Robert

standing all by himself

in a corner, hanging,

you know, hiding his face.

He's extremely mysterious.

And that's who he was.

- McCue: - The final project - For both of us

Was to make a musical

instrument out of a bone.

Then I remember,

I got a call from Bob

and he was all kind of

weepy and he said,

"I don't know what to do.

Scratch has died."

- It was maybe - Two o'clock in the morning.

He came in

and he was really shook.

He said,

"I boiled Scratch's head,

"and I've got my bone,

- "but, you know, - It was terrible.

"It smelled terrible.

I had to cut his head off."

I hated doing it,

So he aced the project.

Yeah.

- Mapplethorpe: - There was a lot of negativity,

- Even at Pratt, - Toward what I did.

You know, people would say,

- "That isn't art, that isn't - The way you make art,"

- And I just did it - The way I wanted to do it.

Brunnick:

apart from his classmates.

Robert set himself

Woman:

is his backside.

It's a beast and this

- It's a pose - That he uses himself

- Later on in self-portraits. - Hmm.

If you compare it

that backward pose,

to "Bullwhip,"

he already has it in his mind.

The last time I saw Bob,

he had no clothes on.

He was afraid. He had all

against the door,

the furniture stacked up

and he was really beside

himself and he said,

"I'm afraid. I'm afraid.

Someone's coming.

Someone's coming.

Could you give me $20?"

♪ ♪

- Patti Smith: - I met Robert accidentally

And he was just a boy.

I mean, we were both 20.

He was... He was

a kid going to Pratt,

and we fell in love

and he was my boyfriend.

Mapplethorpe: It was

been in love with anybody,

the first time I had ever

so the fact that it was...

as Patti,

It was somebody as unique

I mean, she was... she was

a magical kind of person.

So like, you know,

and she was...

She was supportive of

what I was doing, or my magic,

and I was supportive

of her magic.

- Neither one of us - Were ever jealous,

So it was like,

a storybook relationship.

you know, it was like

Smith:

confidence in my work

He helped me to build

and to think

of myself as artist,

- to have a concept - Of oneself as an artist.

- That was always - Really important to Robert,

Not as an apprentice,

not as a student,

but as an artist.

Ziff:

my friends,

I loved photographing

and Robert called me and said,

pictures of Patti and me?

"Can you do some naked

I want to make

'Garden of Earthly Delights.'"

a little film called

So then we set up lights

on the back of a chair,

and I just took the pictures

that he asked for.

Robert and Patti were

an interesting way

so beautiful in such

- and in an unconventional way, - I think.

He exuded this kind of

androgynous sexuality,

and so did Patti.

Patti was drawing

all the time,

and Robert was drawing all

the time and making things.

You know, it was messy.

There was stuff

tacked up on the walls.

hanging around,

It looked like a scene

from a Godard movie.

Smith:

night after night, drawing

We sat for hours and hours,

and, you know, drawing from

each other as well as drawing.

I'm a thief and I dig it.

A good thief never hesitates.

A good thief steals clean.

And I'm stealing now.

And I'm stealing now.

And I'm stealing now.

♪ ♪

- Reporter: - The Chelsea has been home

For more than a century

to a colony of artists

who have also celebrated it

in books,

poems, plays,

dance, and painting.

- Mapplethorpe: - I kept on saying to Patti...

Woman:

We were like a family.

I loved them.

He kept telling me

I was like a sister.

Patti was working like crazy

to let us live.

I mean, she was very generous,

and she wasn't jealous of me

at all, which is wonderful.

She trusted me

with Robert, totally.

I never was in love with him

or had any sexual

feelings for him,

but we were very close.

We would sit

empty room at the Chelsea,

in my totally white,

which supposedly had

had Oscar Wilde stay in it,

- and had had Jackson Pollock - Stay in it.

And I had Warhol's clouds

floating, the helium clouds.

That's all I had in the room,

and a mattress.

We lived on the floor

to eat off of them.

and it was clean enough

That's exactly what we did.

It was a 25-hour

art show all the time,

or movie set or whatever

you would wanna call the life.

- It was just - The life being recorded.

Reporter:

sun-drenched studio,

In a stark,

lives filmmaker

Sandra Daley.

- Daley: - I called him up, I said,

"Could you bring over

some of the things

"and put them up on the walls?

- Because there's nothing here, - You know, it's all white."

And he came over

with the stuff,

and I looked, I thought,

with a cock sticking out."

"God, leather pants

I thought, "Why not?"

It looked fabulous.

Mapplethorpe:

with articles of clothing.

I was working

- They were kind of - Like fetish sculpture.

You know, if I had a jacket

I'd put it in a piece

that I wore all the time,

and, you know.

So it was like assemblage.

What's made you

for the past seven years?

live in the Chelsea

Um, my friends,

I guess, live here,

and my teachers.

It's my home.

Daley:

(laughs)

Robert didn't say much.

He didn't talk at all,

did he, in that clip?

- Man: - Robert could sit in silence

A lot more comfortably

than I could.

I'm Edward Mapplethorpe.

Robert Mapplethorpe's brother.

(laughs)

I was three years of age

when he left the house.

I remember just waiting

anxiously on my stoop

and knowing Robert

and Patti were coming.

And then I'd be like,

look at these guys."

"Wow." Like, "Wow,

I mean, they didn't

look like anybody else.

- They didn't talk - Like anybody else.

- I would say, creature. - They were like creatures.

- Just the way he dressed, - The way he carried himself.

The way his hair was,

the way, uh...

It was just...

It encompassed him.

The art,

the artist encompassed him.

There was no separation.

(Mapplethorpe's voice)

Wow.

Daley:

I see them as exquisite.

Most porn looks amateurish

and lower class.

Just make it look like,

I think I said

a Louis Quinze chair,

so that it just

takes your breath away.

It doesn't matter

what the subject matter is.

It's like a love story...

to porn, maybe.

- Mapplethorpe: - There was a feeling - I could get

- Through looking - At pornographic imagery,

And I thought if I could

you know,

somehow retain that feeling,

it was like,

because I was young, you know.

maybe it was the forbidden

That if I could get

an art statement,

that across and make

make it do it in a way

that just kind of, like,

- reached a certain - Kind of perfection

That I would be doing

uniquely my own.

something that was

Female curator:

even includes a camera.

Oh, and that one

Right.

He highlighted it.

And that...

- And this was before he was - Even making photographs. - I think.

But this is when

"It may be cheaper for me..."

he started thinking,

Yeah. Yeah.

than buy all this porn.

To take photographs

- Announcer: - Same great film...

Mapplethorpe:

that originated with myself.

I wanted raw material

I felt that I was stealing

them from other people,

and so that's how

I started with the Polaroids.

- You know, it was not because - I wanted to be a photographer.

♪ ♪

- Smith: - We had a Polaroid camera

And Polaroid film

was really expensive,

so my focus

got what he needed first.

was always that Robert

And we had

so little money for film.

We concentrated on

getting him the film.

Mapplethorpe:

from the start.

It was all there

And when I first started

taking Polaroids,

I was working with photographs

that dealt with sexuality,

portraits, flowers,

and still lives

- because I used the still lives - To experiment with lighting.

These are the first times

that Robert took emulsion.

He washed it off

floated above the base

of the Polaroid till it

and stretched them out.

That's me, ugly as ever.

Here's Patti.

And that's David Croland.

Croland:

a model anymore.

I'm really not

I'm just a...

you know, an object.

If you want an explanation

of why I'm wearing this robe,

it's for Robert,

and Robert liked robes,

and he liked black silk.

- And I thought twice - About it, and then I thought,

"You're not gonna

think three times."

Patti is the first girl

he photographed for Polaroid

and I was the first boy.

(pops lips)

I met Robert in 1970

on Memorial Day,

on a steamy hot day.

As soon as he got his camera,

the film was loaded

and my clothes were off.

Starting with a robe

and then the robe was, like,

here, et cetera, et cetera.

- He photographed me - A lot in that.

And in those days,

Polaroid film?"

I just thought, "Who cares?

I was used

by the big format,

to being photographed

you know, by...

Should we drop some names?

- Someone said, - "Stop dropping names."

- I said, "I can't help it if - Everyone I know is fantastic."

So I thought

"What the hell are these?"

these Polaroids were like,

I saw very quickly that

a bunch of Polaroids.

he wasn't just stacking up

- He was making - Stuff out of them.

He was incorporating them

into a new type of art,

which no one was doing.

No one.

Uh-uh.

And then someone called Patti

to say they are boyfriends.

So that was...

We were busted.

Patti knew that

I was helping Robert,

so there was no animosity,

not at all.

At least, I don't think so.

When you're young, you don't

have much of a conscience.

I mean, when you're young,

if you think.

I don't even know

I don't even think it's a good

idea to think, to this day.

It's just better to do stuff.

Daley:

small amount of money.

I had this

I could make a movie.

I said, "Robert, you can pick

out anything you want to do."

Mapplethorpe:

would be interesting to have

I just thought it

a ring through your tit

because I maybe seen it

in a movie or something,

but it wasn't something

anybody had at that moment.

And all of a sudden,

where I was...

there was a whole situation

to get my nipple pierced.

I had done a number of films

for Andy Warhol,

so I was used...

And as a model

the camera trained on me.

I was used to having

Yes.

But I had no idea

where that film was going.

Where that film went was

to the Museum of Modern Art,

and it showed there

at a big screening.

- Man: - MoMA was very crowded,

And I was writing film reviews

then for the "Village Voice,"

and I remember Robert was

standing against the wall

and he had this sort of

angelic kind of hair,

and I guess I had a crush

on him and whatever.

Right way, in my mind,

and a devil.

I saw him as an angel

Daley:

this brilliant monologue

Then Patti has

that she did

as the soundtrack.

Smith (in Jersey accent):

Robert had this book in his...

I read this book,

- He had this book in his drawer - Called "Leather Boys,"

And, like, I picked it up

because he went out.

the other night

Once he got his

down on Christopher Street.

leather pants, he would be

Like, it was like

my boyfriend or nothing.

I guess the reason...

I don't like it

The only reason

- is because, like, - They got secrets.

Colacello:

to the delicacy of the visuals

"In sharp counterpoint

"is the harsh and hilarious

soundtrack by Patti Smith,

"poet, Robert's

ex-girlfriend..."

"who, it seems, dislikes

homosexuals because,

"A, she feels left out,

and B, they use

their assholes."

(chuckles)

He called me after the review

he really liked it

came out and said that

and could we, like,

or something.

meet for a cup of coffee

♪ ♪

Robert and I would,

at 4:00 in the afternoon,

you know, meet up, like,

- go into some - Deserted restaurant and sit...

You know, just order coffee,

- and he only had - A Polaroid then.

He didn't even have a camera.

But he was already,

his first exhibition,

you know, planning on

and who he was going to invite

and who he hoped would come.

- Brunnick: - This is Robert Mapplethorpe's - Announcement

For his first solo exhibition.

The envelope is embossed

by Tiffany and Company.

It was a show of Polaroids.

He encased his announcement

safety cover

in the "don't touch here"

from the Polaroid film pack.

Terpak:

in several interviews,

Mapplethorpe says

"An exhibition doesn't begin

when you go to the opening.

It begins when

you get the invitation."

Brunnick:

It's a small dot sticker...

that's really not opaque.

(laughing)

Woman:

want the viewer to feel

But what do you

- when they open - That invitation?

Mapplethorpe:

that's all.

I want them to remember it,

- Woman: - You're thinking of, like,

Standing out

from this huge mass...

Mapplethorpe:

of one's whole lifestyle?

Why can't it be in terms

You know what I'm saying?

The whole point

or making a statement

of being an artist

is to learn about yourself.

- I think that's - The most important part.

The photographs, I think,

are less important

than the life

that one is leading.

♪ ♪

I would just run around

and give people their food.

And it really was

of downtown artists.

a comprehensive scene

Not a closed world,

like a clubhouse in a way.

but it was, you know, almost

Woman:

almost every night of my life.

I probably saw Robert

You know, most people

in such horrible places

that I knew lived

that you really only knew

if you had sex with them.

where they lived

Lots of times in Max's,

you know.

he would come and sit with me,

- It was probably the time - I enjoyed Robert the most

- Because he was - An incredibly amusing gossip.

He was extremely good-looking

you know.

in a very particular way,

Croland:

No one that saw Robert

did not have a crush

on him immediately.

No one. Everyone.

Dogs liked him.

He looked kind of like,

ruined cupid.

you know, a kind of

And he was very reliant

on his charm, you know.

I mean, in other words,

he made great use of it,

by which I mean,

productive to Robert.

Croland:

Robert didn't have to hustle.

Robert was not a hustler.

People hustled Robert...

mainly out of his pants

if they could.

Me too, by the way.

Robert didn't think anything

was wrong with his ambition.

- He didn't think of it - As selling out.

He didn't think...

the way that people now do.

He just, you know, pursued it

Man:

Was Robert ambitious?

There is no word for it.

For either of them.

That is an understatement.

For both of them.

Yeah.

Unbelievably.

- Colacello: - I went away for a summer,

And when I got back,

Robert was suddenly into S&M.

Croland:

at his place

One day, I showed up

- and he was wearing - Leather pants

And it looked like a radio

attached to his crotch.

- I said, - "What the hell is that?"

- He said, "Oh, it's a codpiece. - Isn't it great?"

I said, "This is like

you keep dressing like this."

the beginning of the end if

He started to trick me out

and handcuffs.

in leather jackets

He started to get

not me, at all,

and more him,

and he wanted me to go...

Always to go further.

And I thought,

I'm a model."

"That's not gonna happen.

Sam Wagstaff, I only knew that

he was eccentric, handsome,

and then when

later that day, rich.

he took me to this loft

But right before we went

to his loft on Bond Street,

he spied a little,

tiny picture of Robert

taken in a photo booth

with a little sailor cap on.

- It looked like - A Jean Genet drawing.

And he said, "Who is this?"

I said, "That's my

soon-to-be ex-boyfriend."

So I called Robert up

and I said, "Listen.

"Your ship's come in,

it's in my harbor.

- "You're gonna - Jump on this boat.

You're gonna love him,

I can tell."

he's gonna love you,

They had a date that week,

and they fell in love

very quickly.

Sam was his protector,

in every way.

You know, in the way that

girls are protected by men.

It was a beautiful match.

Beautiful. Really beautiful.

(Mapplethorpe's voice)

I knew other people who had

and stuff like that,

older guys who supported them

but Sam devoted himself.

The career Robert had,

- I don't believe - Would've existed without Sam.

♪ ♪

I met him when he moved

next to us on Bond Street,

so he was literally

the boy next door,

and we just instantly

became friends.

Woman:

street in New York.

It's this little cobblestone

Robert lived

at 24 Bond Street,

and Brice and Helen Marden

lived at 26 Bond Street,

and I lived at 42 Bond Street.

And the '70s in New York was

very different than now.

New York was bankrupt,

things were pretty

corrupt and violent.

There was a lot of crime,

and, you know, Bond and Bowery

was in the middle of,

you know, people

sleeping in the doorways

and lying on the streets,

but it was the art world.

Woman:

I was hysterical.

When we first moved here,

I said, "We've just spent

40,000 bucks on this dump.

- "And look at this area. - Look at this."

- I mean, it's, like, miles - Before you can get

To a restaurant,

a grocery store,

- you know, a light at night, - The place is dark.

You had this beautiful,

free-flowing stream,

then there'd be all

the soapsuds and garbage.

Junkies.

Bond Street was.

You see, that's the way

Helen:

the last time I tracked it,

And now, of course,

the penthouse

sold for 19 million.

in that building, I think,

I never thought we'd have

any money. Did you?

No, it wasn't...

It wasn't the intention.

I mean, it wasn't

a band of innocents, you know.

as though it was just

You came to New York

to be in New York,

because you felt you had

you know, or else you would

that was nice to live.

have just gone to some place

- Helen: - He loved coming over

- And taking photographs - Of my bats.

You know, he wasn't

in the beginning.

Robert Mapplethorpe

You know, there was

Robert Mapplethorpe, right?

no thought that this was

- Right, Brice? - Right, yeah.

Nothing, you know. We were

and chatting about it.

just all doing our work

Colacello:

little used book stores

We'd go to these funny

and they'd have, like,

with old postcards

cardboard boxes filled

- and filled with - Old photo prints,

- And Robert would go through - Them and he'd find, you know,

A Weston or a Steichen

or something.

And it was like no one knew

$5 or $10,

what it was, and it was like

and he would do that much more

once he got together with Sam.

Mapplethorpe: See, what

collecting photography,

happened is I started

so I studied it through

in my hand,

holding these pictures

- which is probably the best way - To study photography.

Robert and I liked to lie

the photographs Sam bought,

on his bed and look at all

and then he would tell me

and we would laugh.

how much they were worth

(laughing)

Never having really looked

at photographs as art,

it really took Robert

to bring me to photography.

(chattering)

What are you up to?

I've been working.

- You should see - Some of Robert's works.

- I'll be getting down - After the sale.

Wagstaff:

about the quality

There was something

of even the Polaroids,

which startled me.

Something very knife-sharp

about his work.

I think this is the most

in the archive

intimate thing we have

- between Sam and Robert. - Mm-hmm.

Robert doesn't write,

so in a way, this linen album

is his love letter to Sam.

You can see the dialogue

that's going on between them

about photography, and love

and all that sexuality.

Yeah.

Wagstaff:

slightly embarrassed

I used to be

by certain photographs

that Robert took.

He helped me get over that.

(Mapplethorpe's voice)

Robert, has always liked

of pornography.

to play on the edge

Mapplethorpe:

fascinated with the idea

I always was

of taking a loaded

subject like sexuality

and somehow bringing it

been to before.

to a level that it hadn't

Wagstaff:

wedded to truth

He's absolutely

and opens it up

in an almost surgical way.

in front of his camera

Mapplethorpe:

somebody saying,

And I remember

- "You know, you really - Shouldn't do that because it's - Gonna fuck up your career."

And I said I thought

to even think that way.

it was stupid for him

I was convinced that

the right thing to be doing.

what I was doing was

♪ ♪

Berlin:

on Fire Island,

I met Robert in the early '70s

where his friend, Wagstaff,

was renting a beautiful house

and they invited me to stay.

The '70s was a sexual time,

and Fire Island,

we went for sex,

for that

of sexual encounters.

beautiful availability

I mean, the drugs

were floating around.

It was heaven.

Whenever we went out,

I was recognized, right?

And people stopped me

and Robert liked that,

and he was craving

to be seen with me,

for fame and he enjoyed

but he was sort of

who should be recognized.

feeling he should be the one

And so I agreed,

as a friend, to pose for him.

Then when

the weekend was over,

Robert went back to New York

City to work on his career.

For me, the ambition

was to get laid.

Robert's ambition was

and that's why he is,

to be a great photographer

because in order

you had to work hard.

to be a Mapplethorpe,

♪ ♪

Man:

my office at "Drummer,"

He walked into

a major gay magazine

where I was the editor,

wearing leather chaps

and a leather jacket,

carrying a black

leather portfolio,

and said, "Hello,

I'm Robert Mapplethorpe,

- the pornographic - Photographer."

Well, everybody that came

to my desk

- was a pornographic - Photographer.

The problem in the '70s

was everybody was having sex.

- Photographers - Weren't shooting,

- Painters weren't painting, - Writers weren't writing,

But Robert was functioning.

- And we ended up in bed, - Then we became

Bicoastal lovers

for the next three years.

He knew that he needed

to be written about,

- which is one of the reasons - He came to "Drummer."

(Mapplethorpe's voice)

Fritscher:

writers that he approached.

I was just one of many

I mean, nearly all of his

friends were writers.

He wanted to be a legend.

He told me he wanted to be

around the world.

a story told in beds at night

He had that kind of drive,

and in a way, that's part

of what makes geniuses,

this self-centeredness

to use people.

and this ability

So I was someone

who could help Robert.

I had that power of being

editor of "Interview,"

- but I don't think - We used him that much

- Because I was aware - That Andy didn't like him.

- He always just said, - "Oh, he's so dirty-looking,"

And, you know,

"He's so creepy,"

- and Andy didn't like - Anybody who took Polaroids.

He thought he sort of was

be taking Polaroids.

the only person who should

But once Andy realized that

he started to like him.

Robert was with Sam Wagstaff,

So it was okay for me to then

use him for "Interview,"

and we sent him to Mustique.

We met Robert, my husband

and I, on our way to Mustique,

in a private little plane.

I haven't heard of him at all,

but I was fascinated

by his mind,

and on top of that,

he was so good-looking.

He said, at one point,

"I want to photograph you."

And I said, "No way."

And he said, "You know what?

"You might regret it later,

"because I'm going

and great photographer,

to be a fantastic

and you're not going to have

a photograph taken by me."

Colacello:

with the aristocracy,

He was a big hit

and he loved Mustique

and then Mustique loved him.

(Mapplethorpe's voice)

- He was living this double - Kind of life

Where he would be uptown

Mm-hmm.

at a fancy dinner...

And then he would go

to the Mine Shaft.

It looks well-worn.

(laughing)

Can you imagine it?

Back pocket.

It's not just a souvenir.

Well, that was one of

his models, The Mine Shaft.

the key places he went to find

♪ ♪

Fritscher:

for all those years

What went on in the Mine Shaft

was two floors of

the most outrageous sex

had this side of Ancient Rome.

All kinds of S&M sex,

scatological sex, fetish sex,

from the sling, to the stocks,

to the whipping post.

People talked of a famous

always somebody in it,

bathtub, I mean, there was

and a ring of men around it,

one, two, three layers deep,

everybody jerking off,

touching each other, moving.

It's just like a scrum

around that bathtub.

And then the ones in the first

whoever was in the bathtub.

line would piss all over

Mapplethorpe:

with sexuality

The work dealing

is very directly related

to my own experiences.

It was an area that

in contemporary art,

hadn't been explored

and so it was an area

of making my statement.

that interested me in terms

I was in the perfect situation

in those photographs

in that most of the people

were friends of mine,

and they trusted me.

And I felt like

to record those things.

it was an obligation

Robert and I first met...

at The Mine Shaft.

- He comes over and I'm like, - "Oh, here it goes.

"We're gonna have an orgy

or go down in the basement."

He was very good-looking,

you know, all in black

It was hot.

leather. It was like...

- He said, - "Let's get out of here,"

And we went home, did a bit

of coke, had some sex.

Very, very, vanilla sex.

- He looked bored - Out of his mind.

- And we were up - In to two hours.

Just as I was nodding off,

get up to do the first shoot.

We did it like 6:30,

7:00 in the morning.

He said he liked the light

coming in the window.

Mapplethorpe:

a documentary in a sense,

It becomes

though, I'd like to see it

more as an autobiography.

You know, it's what

at any given moment.

I'm involved with

Leave that open.

I did this

in a shop window.

♪ ♪

This is Hockney,

film directress from LA.

and this is a young

I remember this one time

we were at his studio

and he said, "Do you wanna see

my private stuff?"

- At that point, all of - His stuff was very taboo.

None of this stuff was

showing it to us.

out in public when he was

- It wasn't. It wasn't. - Yeah.

Robert lived not too far

east of my apartment,

so I just walked there.

I remember, as I got

closer and closer,

that I felt

increasingly more frightened.

Edward:

and I look up

I was a bit anxious,

and there's Robert

smoking a cigarette,

up on the fire escape,

and I was like,

"Okay, here we go."

(elevator dings)

A hand-operated elevator.

Five flights.

Very low lit. Devil figures.

Mysterious. It's creepy.

The first thing

that struck me about him,

he was not at all,

you know, the kind of person

that one might think

of photographs.

might make these kind

Yeah. Well, this...

This will pick up?

Mapplethorpe:

- Yeah, this will - Pick up better.

Okay. Now...

He said,

"oh, is that a Sony?"

And I said,

and he said,

"No, it's not,"

"Oh, Panasonic.

Well, Sony is better."

And, you know, teased me

tape recorder.

about having the wrong

Man:

Mapplethorpe signed with an X,

In his early work,

so there's a kind of

double entendre here.

Each portfolio, there's

mounted on black board

13 gelatin sliver prints

and signed in graphite.

- Mapplethorpe: - Sex is, for me,

- Probably the most - Important thing in life.

You know, it's the one area

that offers a bit of magic,

a bit of something

we don't know about.

- Just seeing how - His little brother reacted,

He just... he dug it.

He loved to get

and a reaction

a jolt out of people

because it was power.

They were powerful.

Mapplethorpe:

like I portray it,

I think sexuality,

is very much today,

but people, you know,

- it would take a few years - Before people realize that.

Squiers:

that you're just existing

And you don't think

in a specialized

kind of subculture?

New York is specialized.

But what happens

of America finally.

in New York is indicative

If I was gonna pick an image

that I thought was humorous,

I would pick the man

coming out of his mouth.

in the rubber suit with a hose

(Mapplethorpe's voice)

That's really disgusting.

(laughing)

(both laughing)

I had grown up with abstract

art, and conceptualism,

and, you know,

nude men in rubber suits

were not part

of my art education.

So it was hard to know

how to talk about them.

Mapplethorpe:

amazed that it shocked.

Yeah, I was always

I mean, because once

and I had taken it,

I had a photograph

it didn't... it wasn't

shocking to me anymore.

I'd been through

the experience.

- Edward: - Just watching me.

- Even though I was perhaps - Being tested that day,

I wasn't going to fail.

And then I was, like,

"You know, this is cool.

This is cool."

- Mapplethorpe: - Maybe they're the best

- Or the most important - Pictures I've taken.

When one sees something

it's rather important.

you've never seen before,

- I mean, still, I can - Show those to people

And they will have never

seen that image before.

So it opens something up,

and I think

is opening something up.

that's what art is about,

A couple of times, he's like,

would say about that one?"

"So what do you think Dad

There are two

that particularly,

you know,

took my breath away.

One was the pinky

inserted into a penis.

That was like, "Oh, my God."

And the other one

was the fist.

Okay, Robert. (chuckling)

I guess you've definitely

found your voice.

Mapplethorpe:

fist fucking photograph,

I wanted to do a great

so I did that picture,

- and then he said, - "Now, it's your turn."

So he sort of pinned me

and says, "Listen..."

against the wall

- Anyway, once I had - The picture taken,

- I thought it was - A really good picture of me.

Squiers:

that that image was horrible.

But most people would say

- Image of yourself. - But once they...

(chuckling)

It's a good one.

(laughing)

Robert, he said "I can't have

Mom and Dad something."

you go home without giving

So he just went...

and signed it,

"For Mom and Dad."

It was certainly better than

up on the wall. Sorry.

anything else they he had

(chuckling)

It was

an "Easter Lilies" print.

Man:

of your son?

Are you proud

Harry:

he did, yes.

For the artwork

But for some of

the photographs that he took,

I just could not accept

them either.

He's done

a beautiful job on flowers.

There was tension.

There was no doubt about it.

One time in particular

being very, very uncomfortable

because my father

wouldn't look at Robert.

My father was

an electrical engineer.

He wore one of

those penholders.

- Robert would make - His attempts.

- He came with - A Polaroid camera one time

And gave the camera

He did a Polaroid of Robert.

to my father to...

After he left,

my father making mention

of how Robert

shook people's hands.

It wasn't a manly handshake.

It was a soft-set handshake.

- Harry: - Let me say this,

That I thought he was,

for quite a length of time,

but I would never even

mention it to my wife.

Because as far as

my wife is concerned,

he was her favorite.

Nancy:

they were married.

He and Patti told my parents

I remember sending

her birthday cards.

Patti, whatever,

Mrs. Robert Mapplethorpe.

You know?

I think my father always

had suspicions though.

He said, "There's no pictures,

there's no certificate."

there's no, you know,

Man:

the fact that he was gay?

Did you resent

- Harry: - I did, yes.

I guess I did, yeah.

He never spoke

to me about it.

Because I guess he knew

I would never accept it.

Admitting that he was gay

or telling me that he's gay,

that wouldn't have

helped matters at all.

Because I probably would've

had more resentment

to that fact

if he had told me.

So he was really

not part of the family,

you know, and it's sad.

It's sad. I so wish,

I could talk to him now

about it all, you know?

But Robert did... Robert always

wanted to be famous

and he became famous.

(Ziff reading)

a gallery in New York.

"Dear Lloyd, I finally have

"It's run by a woman

named Holly Solomon,

- "You probably have - Never heard of it,

But it doesn't seem to be

for the moment."

a bad place to be

I said,

"Before I show your work,

I would like you to do

my portrait."

And when he took my portrait,

I was convinced

that he was an artist,

convinced that he could

extremely well.

manipulate people

And I use the word manipulate.

And so I said

"Okay, let's do a show."

"Sam Wagstaff was a great

Holly Solomon said,

photography collector."

"I wouldn't have touched

Robert without Sam.

- "And there were others like me - Who felt the same way."

- Lebowitz: - He had two shows in one day.

One was the S&M pictures,

and then one where

the uptown trade.

the pictures, for, you know,

And then there was a dinner

dinner at One Fifth Avenue.

that Sam gave, a black-tie

It was very carefully

an ad campaign,

thought out. It was like

and it worked.

- Mapplethorpe: - Sometimes, I think it's better

For the public to be able

to separate things

because when you mix them

overpowers it,

all up, the sex thing

and what happens is they just

and that becomes the show.

pick the sex pictures out

- Woman: - What will you say - To those people

Who accuse you

of having a dirty mind?

Well, I don't know what...

means exactly.

I don't know what that

I mean, I think everybody is,

involved in sexuality.

in one way or another,

So, if you believe

that sex is dirty,

everybody has

a dirty mind, I suppose.

But I never consider

sex being dirty.

Squiers:

particularly riveted me,

The image that

was Mark Stevens

(Mr. 10 1/2),

with his penis and balls

laid out on the pedestal

as if they were a work of art,

which, in his case, they were.

So...

- Artistic photography - Is controlled

By very civilized people

in New York City.

And in essence, he was

glamorizing the penis,

which is a very

uncivilized thing to do.

We sold one, only.

So, I bought

the whole show from Robert

figuring "Okay,

stuck is stuck."

(Mapplethorpe's voice)

Solomon:

"I want to go uptown,"

He said,

and he brought me a present.

The present was

the whip up his... tush.

a self-portrait with

- And my husband, - He was quite insulted,

And he said, "I'm gonna

"No, you're not.

rip it up," and I said,

Someday, I'm gonna

for that photograph."

get handsomely paid

- Is that making - A statement about myself?

You know, it's one aspect

of everybody, I suppose,

- you know, - Sort of the demon within.

There's a sense of humor

in what I'm doing,

- which I hope - People pick up on,

And sometimes they do,

when people see that.

and I'm always pleased

- I don't think he could've - Produced the work he produced

- If he hadn't been - Raised Catholic.

Mapplethorpe:

things is very Catholic,

I think the way I arrange

even though I was

never a religious person.

I think it's rather important

as an influence on my life.

The imagery was what was

important to him,

not the dogma.

There's something

about sadomasochism.

very ritualistic

It's, kind of, the Black Mass

basically, right?

Fritscher:

on the Catholic martyrology.

His S&M work is based

As grade-school children,

we hear tales

of St. Agatha tied to a stake

with a red hot pincher.

and her tits torn off

If you're a little kid

in a certain way,

and hear that, and twisted

all of a sudden,

and not horrified.

you're excited

(clears throat)

I'm really not, you know,

into sadomasochism, you know?

I don't encourage it

with other people either.

But I really felt as though

there was a struggle in Robert

between crucifixes

and devil images.

Good, evil, there is

a great conflict there.

He liked the fact

the seminary for many years

that I had been in

and was an ordained exorcist

in the Catholic Church.

And because I was trained

confessional to me.

to be a priest, he was very

"Dear Jack, it's midnight.

"MDA ingested, only the first

signs now visible.

"I've been out nearly

no different.

every night. Tonight is

"The Mine Shaft is beckoning.

"Come, go, come, go,

come with me.

"Oh, I almost

forgot to tell you,

"I let some creep

stick his hand up my ass.

"I've been fisted, even came.

"But I think I prefer

being the giver.

"In fact, I can't help but

to the feeding process.

give preferential treatment

"I want to see

the devil in us all.

"That's my real turn-on.

Love, Robert."

I have to say that

because nobody will say it.

I have to say it

and it's not to put him down,

but it's simply to reveal.

Robert...

(car engine rumbling)

Satan to him was not

this evil monster.

Satan was, like,

a convivial playmate,

having a jolly good time

seducing the maidens.

To me, it was

a bridge too far.

(rumbling continues)

Go away.

Can we close the doors?

cold in here.

I'm getting awfully

- Yeah. - There's a draft... Marc?

Man:

San Francisco, 1978.

Robert was having a show,

it was a sex show.

It was unusual. I mean,

in galleries.

you didn't see sex as art

- And then someone said, - "Well, you know,

- "he did the album cover - For 'Horses.'"

And it was the only

black and white album cover.

- And to see - An androgynous-looking woman

- With a jacket - Over her shoulder,

I just love, love,

love that photograph.

- Robert was holding court - And he said,

- "Well, let's have - Dinner the following night,"

And that's how I met him.

And then I guess

the following night, right?

you wanna know what happened

He reminded me of the satyr.

He really looked like

a mythological creature,

like half goat, half man.

To be in Robert's world,

you either had to be rich,

famous, or sex.

I wasn't rich,

I wasn't famous,

so, it left that.

- As he certainly - Wasn't monogamous,

He could have multiple

relationships on a weekend.

But with me, there was no S&M.

It was about being close

and spooning and, you know,

just the normal, the normal

kind of intimate stuff

- that he didn't have - From picking up strangers.

He said,

"I want to do a nude."

So I said, "Why don't

you know, this..."

we do something, like,

- those pictures of the hunt, - You know,

Where you have,

with the dead rabbit

like, the harvest

- and the fruit and everything - All and about.

- So, I thought it was gonna be - More like that,

And then it turned up

with... just this dead rabbit.

And I said, "What am I gonna

stole or something."

do with this? Like a mink

- I'm surprised you even - Know that picture,

Because you'll never see

by Mapplethorpe.

a picture of me in any book

You really won't.

The fact that I started

getting a reputation

aside from just being

from San Francisco,

"Robert's cute with,"

how dare I become

well known?

a photographer that was

This infuriated him.

He couldn't deal with that.

Fritscher:

here for much too long,

"I've had a houseguest

"a very cute boy

that I met in San Francisco.

"He's sweet, intelligent,

has a nice cock,

"but that ain't enough.

I wish he'd find an apartment

as he's cramping my style."

That was probably me.

- I mean... but I don't... - Never heard that.

I mean, I don't know who else

he met in San Francisco.

That was... that's the first

time I'm hearing that.

Hmm.

Well, it finally isn't

what he wanted.

enough, is it? I mean,

It's never enough.

Everything was a means

to an end to his career.

Everything.

Oh, my God. You guys

are old school. I love that.

- Woman: - The Bond Street loft - Never changed.

In the front, it was

sort of no man's land,

- and that was where - He used to photograph a lot.

Then you move back and it's

this little sitting area

which... where he would

always hold court,

- but across from that - Was the bedroom.

- Painted black. - Black.

Hot gloss.

With the handcuff holds

above the bed.

I never went in there.

Oh, I did.

(laughing)

First thing he said to me is,

where the darkroom is."

"All you have to know is

You know? Okay, dude,

whatever, you know.

Do your thing, I'll do mine.

- And I remember the first image - I printed,

Which was just a nasty,

dirty picture.

It's a guy laying on his back,

pulling on his nipples.

- It's not a well-known picture, - But it's a classic.

(laughing)

- And that was where - We went to work every day.

That's where we went.

"Off to work, here we go."

You know,

Little waspy blondes

going to the den iniquity.

- Going to - The fist-fucking file.

Wasn't it funny how soon

we became anesthetized

- to all the sex pictures? - To the word penis?

- Yeah, you really... - 'Cause it was just daily.

Baril:

be film in the morning

There would always

from the night before,

so the first thing I'd do

is process film.

He'd come in in his robe,

"How are the films, Tom?"

When he saw the image

for the very first time,

he'd tease me,

of that cock, Tom?"

"What do you think

- I'm like, - "Get the fuck out of here." - You know?

I was just out of school,

looking for work,

and Robert was, like,

I really feel about this,

"I don't know how

"but I am looking

for an assistant."

And I started the next day.

Baril:

a real photo background,

Because he didn't have

he was always insecure

I get the picture?"

about "Technically did

- You know, "Did it come out? - Did it come out?"

If it had light on it,

he was happy,

and he could get an exposure,

'cause, you know,

in the middle of the night.

they were all fucked up

Mapplethorpe:

I never studied photography.

I'm not a technician.

I don't particularly

care to know it.

I know what a fine print is.

I would probably have less

of photographs

than half the number

if I did my own

developing and printing.

But he always had coke.

he gave coke to

I was the only guy

- 'cause he wanted - Me to keep going.

(laughs)

He wasn't generous,

but, you know,

"If I gave Tom a little coke,

he'll print faster," you know.

"Here, Tom.

he'd give me a bump.

Go in the darkroom,"

You know,

my father said to me,

- "How can Robert call himself - A photographer

If he doesn't even know how

to process a roll of film?"

But Robert had a vision,

he always had a certain

way of seeing things,

so how you got there didn't

really concern him so much.

Baril:

to just be flawless.

He wanted everything

You know, "Let's make this

guy's arm meet this corner,"

and, you know,

out a little bit."

"Let's straighten it

But it's a guy pissing

What's the fucking difference?

in another guy's mouth.

He wanted things as, you know,

unrealistically perfect

and smooth and take all

the flaws out of the skin.

Some days we'd sit

and just retouch for a day

until all the blemishes

were gone.

Mapplethorpe:

about doing a book

I talked to Patti

and having her

transform herself

into all these different

been Patti.

characters that would have

- I mean, she would be - This character one day

And that character another.

And I think, you know,

she had a certain range

that could've probably

carried a whole book,

but I never

did a book with her.

When I met Lisa, I realized

range within her,

that she, in fact, had this

a very different range, but it

was still worthy of a book.

I thought she was unique.

She had this form that I had

never seen before.

It was like

a complete new animal.

Martineau:

important to Mapplethorpe

She was particularly

because he was

his sex pictures

trying to balance out

with pictures of women.

Mm-hmm.

- It's so interesting - To think about

How the female body building

idea then was really radical

and, kind of, challenging.

That kind of physique to us

Right.

doesn't seem so shocking.

She's such

a prominent subject.

Very '80s,

Oh, yeah.

the make-up, the hair.

- The ruffle blouse. - Mm-hmm.

The shoulder pads.

- Lyon: - It was prototype - For a new species.

Sort of an animal perfection,

and I felt in him

a kind of male version

of the same thing.

- My ambition that - I discussed with him

- Was to explore - The range of possibilities

Of ways of viewing a woman.

Historical ways,

contemporary ways,

cliché ways, unheard of ways,

tribal ways,

the high fashion type,

the sex goddess type,

the lingerie type,

the bondage type,

the virgin type,

the bridal type,

the statue type.

♪ ♪

Squiers:

very daring

What had seemed

when he did it with men...

looked very retrograde

when he did it with a woman

who was dressing up in

different hats and garments.

And so I wrote about that

and he was furious.

I think he called me

and yelled at me.

I feel, like, it may

to write that review.

have been a bad idea

- I mean, that is - Sculpture to me,

You know, and that's, sort of,

I'm making in photography

one of the points that

is being a sculptor

to spend all the time,

without actually having

sort of, modeling

with your hands.

You know, that's much

too archaic for me.

- It's like inventing sculpture - Myself with a camera.

It really is like bronze.

I'd often say that

is like photographing bronzes.

photographing black men

(camera shutter clicks)

I was the last white

intimate person in his life.

After that, he was only

sleeping with black people,

photographing black people.

He became obsessed

with black people.

Mapplethorpe:

physically attractive to me.

All I know is that it's

Visually, it's also attractive

and so, you know, it became

these pictures of blacks.

an obsession with me taking

People had accused him

of exploiting these people.

And, um... he told me

he photographed

what he loved to do

and the people

he loved to be with,

and to me,

that's not exploitation.

That's just living your life

and using a camera

to document it.

Mapplethorpe:

have photographed blacks,

For the most part, when whites

they have, sort of,

social point of view.

shown them from a certain

I'm photographing them as form

I'm reading the flowers

in the same way that

or anything else

that I photograph.

I'm not attempting to make

about their plight.

a social statement

Robert was looking for God

in a black man,

and he found him

in Milton Moore

and fell in love with him.

Now, I think he fell in love,

and this sounds ridiculous,

with Milton's penis.

Robert was looking

black penis.

for the absolute perfect

And he had it,

I mean, the exact

measurements down.

I mean, it had to be

with others,

just so and he'd discuss it

and, you know,

the ratio to this and that.

The thing the world is

most afraid of is penis.

And Robert dared show penis,

but he dared show black penis,

and there's nothing more scary

sexual prejudice

because behind all of

is the sex envy,

this penis envy

that drives people insane

either with lust or with fear.

- Morrisroe: - Milton did say to him

As one condition

of taking the pictures

that he could not show

his head in the frame.

(Mapplethorpe's voice)

Morrisroe:

in Polyester Suit"

"Picture of Man

- was really - One of his most famous.

Milton had picked up

and was very proud of it,

that suit in Hong Kong

and Robert purposely

lined up his thumb

so that it would show off

the cheap seams.

- Man: - I'd never seen it, and then - We went to the framers

And I saw it laying on

be put into the frame,

the floor as it was gonna

and I said,

"Robert, this is a show that

the whole world will see."

He said to me,

"Will anyone write about it?"

That was his comment.

And they did.

Man:

a big black dude

"Main picture here is

"seen in an expensive vested

gabardine suit

"with his fly open and his

elephant cock sticking out.

"This picture's ugly,

degrading, obscene,

- (chuckling) - "Typical of the artist's work,

"which appeal

lascivious collectors

largely to drooling

"who buy them and return

to jerk off."

to their furnished rooms

(laughing)

We actually did

during the exhibition

sell that picture

to a collector

and it was a reach.

in New York for $2,500,

It was a big price

for a photograph,

and especially

by a living photographer.

There were 20

works in the show

and we placed all of them

with very strong collectors,

- which was very - Important for Robert.

This was the first show that

that had ever happened to him.

And it was a kind

of lightning rod

and it was notorious.

Auctioneer:

"Man in Polyester Suit."

Lot 144, Robert Mapplethorpe's

And I'm gonna start

the bidding here at $180,000.

It's possibly one of the top

in photographic history.

10 most recognizable images

210, 220.

It's an iconic image.

You know, it's, like,

Andy's "Marilyn."

360, 380...

$390,000.

Marino:

that photography

None of us realized

at its... the beginning

was just considered

commercial reproduction,

commercial reproduction.

Many collectors would

never dream of collecting.

And I think Mapplethorpe is

one of the artists responsible

for photography being

with sculpture and painting.

considered on an equal basis

I never for a second

was a very real art.

doubted that photography

And there's just something

immediately attracted me.

about his photography that

I was shocked

honesty about everything,

by his absolute brutal

from sexual organs

between people.

to relationships

Mapplethorpe:

influenced me the most

You know, the people that have

are the relationships

I've had, you know,

the lovers

I've had in my life.

And of course

every one of them.

I've photographed

The only time Robert ever

how much he loved Milton.

cried was talking about

Not Patti, Milton. Milton.

(Mapplethorpe's voice)

He had just did that

at Robert Miller Gallery.

show called "Black Males"

So I went to go see that show.

I said, "That's gonna

be my boyfriend."

We lived together for

the better part of a decade.

We rarely fought, you know,

because he was too

self-absorbed to really care.

- It was so easy to be - Around him

Because he was so busy

being Robert Mapplethorpe.

When we started seeing

taking pictures, right?

each other, he started

And I was, kind of, shy,

nude pictures.

so I didn't wanna take

And Robert goes,

at your dick."

"Just don't look

He goes,

"It's just a picture."

Man:

of Ken Moody's dick.

There is no picture

There just isn't,

and I'm sorry.

(laughing)

As soon as I stood

in front of the seamless,

it was magic.

It was absolute magic.

There's no way

other than making love.

you can describe it

And as soon as we stepped away

from that backdrop, nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

We had nothing in common,

to each other.

We had nothing to say

There was a ghetto

the strongest attraction to.

element to men that he had

I had none of that.

He was quoted in

I was too "white" for him.

an article as saying

Too white.

(laughing)

- Mapplethorpe: - I brought them together.

It was interesting

and never had a conversation

'cause they had never met

with somebody else

their hair as a child.

that they had lost all

And it was

interesting to watch them

react and relate

to each other.

Sherman:

The more time goes by,

the bigger that

photograph gets.

When it was in Times Square

on the NASDAQ billboard,

that was, like,

"Wow. Where's my mother?"

I've read several things

on the shot of Ken and I.

It's like

of this philosophy into it.

they tried to read all

Black Ken, eyes closed,

meaning the subconscious.

White Robert, eyes open,

afraid of the unconscious.

I'm, like, "What?"

The black man

was in the background

because the black man's neck

wasn't long enough

to reach over

the white man's shoulder.

We tried it and my neck

wasn't long enough.

I think that's why

he did every position.

Exactly.

what worked best.

To find out

There was no

philosophical anything to...

Robert was so not like that.

No. Totally not.

Take your shirt off.

It sounds silly.

using the word, magic.

I guess, you know,

And fold your arms.

Stay right there.

a little bit.

Lift your head up

I was able to pick up

and work with it,

the magic of the moment

you know, that's my rush

in doing photography.

Ken, hold that! Hold that!

- Tilt a little right - And turn a little right.

Turn your head to the right,

back to me.

now bring your eyes

Look back here.

Lean right, turn right.

Put your head down,

now bring your eyes up.

Click, click, click,

click, click, eyes to me.

Click. Chin up.

Walls:

Turn this way.

Turn your head this way.

Yeah, more.

More. More.

And instead

look straight out.

of looking to the side,

- Often I'm dealing - With fractions of inches.

Here, you can even...

Now turn.

- Just... Yeah, - From the neck. - Stay there.

I'm looking for

that perfect position

where the head sort of,

somehow makes sense to me.

Actually, I should take it

coming in at you.

with all these things

- A little... Look this way - Towards... yeah.

That's rather good, actually.

I'm gonna start showing

a series of portraits.

I'll stop at any point,

too much about the pictures

but I don't want to comment

- 'cause I wanna get... I want - My vision to come across,

The way I see things.

That's William Burroughs.

Philip Glass on the left,

Robert Wilson on the right.

And Donald Sutherland,

I've ever photographed.

one of the best subjects

Annie Leibovitz, one of

I've ever photographed.

the most difficult subjects

(audience laughing)

That's Debbie Harry.

Harry:

a couple of times,

I sat for him

which was pretty scary

for me the first time.

Smiling wasn't

his thing, you know.

The way that he saw people was

like he was seeing into them

- or something, - Or through them.

Mapplethorpe:

it's necessary to tell you

I don't think

who is in each photograph

are good,

because if the pictures

then they'll

are and it doesn't matter.

transcend who they

He became known

of his portraits.

for the elegance

And any photographer who takes

pictures of celebrities

- is making a smart - Business move

Because those people and their

friends have lots of money.

- And they buy pictures. - Salvesen: - Yeah.

Well, and his social life was

a part of his artistic life.

- That's right. - You know,

- It was all - Very interconnected.

Mapplethorpe:

the subject to a point

Ideally, you get

where they direct themselves.

You know, they say, "Well,

I want to be photographed in."

this is really kind of what

I thought it was going to be

a catastrophe,

and I prepared for it.

So I did take a piece of mine.

It was a good

collaboration, right?

Because he's famous

not for his flower pictures.

He's famous

sexual representation.

for his objectionable

- Mapplethorpe: - You know taking pictures - Of sex is no different

- Than photographing - A flower really.

I mean, it's the same thing.

to whatever's going on

It's just submitting

and trying to get

the best possible view of it.

And nobody else can photograph

flowers the way I do.

It's just the way I see.

Even Robert said it,

getting very, very, slick.

that the pictures started

That was the word.

So slick, so perfect.

But perfection,

characteristic. Perfection.

that's a Mapplethorpe

Anybody who was

will agree with me

involved in that studio

that you just got sucked

into Robert's world.

You wanted to.

you just did,

It wasn't... I mean,

- I mean, it was - An interesting world.

It was a lot of excitement,

it was a lot of fun,

- but I wanted - To do something else.

Can't just be

for the rest of my life.

Robert's assistant

So then the invitation

gets sent out.

Nice group of artists.

All alphabetical.

And lo and behold,

before Robert Mapplethorpe.

Edward Mapplethorpe comes

And he was... ruthless.

He was nasty.

And said,

"I'm not gonna have

any kid brother...

"I've worked really hard

to get where I've gotten,

"and if you think

and ride on my coattails..."

you're gonna come

(Mapplethorpe's voice)

And I was like,

"Fuck, man," I was like...

"Wow."

And Robert asked him

to change his name,

which he struggled with,

I think, for a while,

but then he did.

He changed it to Maxey.

Right. But...

It was all about Robert.

It was all about Robert.

- You know, - They were brothers.

- Can't imagine - What all that was like.

You know, it was

a futile attempt because...

"Oh, this is Edward Maxey.

brother."

He's Robert Mapplethorpe's

- I was, like, "Well, - What good is this doing?

"This is ridiculous."

But yeah, it sucked.

That day sucked.

Just like the day that he got

I was gonna leave the studio.

angry at me for deciding that

- This is somebody - That two years earlier

Didn't know whether he wanted

me in the studio with him.

Two years later, I guess,

quite a bit.

he learned to rely on me

And was angry, very angry.

♪ ♪

Tom Brokaw:

male homosexuals

The lifestyle of some

has triggered an epidemic

of a rare form of cancer.

He would go to the bar

in the afternoon,

pick up someone,

have sex with them,

then go back later that night,

maybe and then

pick up somebody else,

and then towards

like, a nightcap.

the end of the night,

Woman:

Mayor Koch predicted

Last weekend,

that The Mine Shaft

would close.

They are selling death.

Places where death

can be distributed.

They're making love

and everything.

in the street on top of cars

This is men. Grown men.

I mean, that's not normal.

Most of these people,

they're not human beings.

they're not fit,

That have emotional problems.

(Man's voice)

(Mapplethorpe's voice)

(Man's voice)

(Mapplethorpe's voice)

♪ ♪

Walls:

with him for all those years,

'Cause I was sleeping

I thought that

I was gonna die.

I came back

to get my results.

from an appointment

- He was laying in the bed - When I walked in,

And then he looked at me

and then he said,

"You got it, right?"

And I said, "No, no, no, no."

I said, "I'm negative."

- And I remember, he got - Really upset and he goes,

- "Then why do I have it? - Why do I have it?"

- And he started, like, - Pounding the bed.

AIDS at the time

a death sentence, right?

was pretty much

And he, on the one

hand was upset,

but on the other hand,

by the demand for his work.

he was fascinated

Walls:

Like, his market took off

when people heard

that he was about to die.

It really took off.

- Baril: - We were very busy.

We didn't stop working,

and he didn't stop shooting

- until he physically - Couldn't get out of bed.

- He's like, - "What am I shooting next?

"Get me some flowers.

Let's do that."

You know, and it...

the statues got done,

The flowers got done,

the commissioned

portraits got done.

Mapplethorpe:

photograph flowers,

One day I'll

- the next day - I'll do some fashion work,

The next day I'll do some

I'll do a portrait.

pornography, and the next day,

You know, I don't really care.

Suzanne:

be keeping a journal.

I sort of thought I should

"I did watch him shoot today.

"It's so amazing to see

to do the pictures.

how he musters the energy

"It absolutely

keeps him going.

"And the money. Funny money."

Natrele Plus. Long-lasting

Natrele protection.

- He was never interested - In talking about his health.

All he wanted to talk about

looking at his work,

was sales and who was

- and when are we gonna have - A million-dollar a month.

He was interested in making

as much money as possible.

And he resented the fact

like Brice Marden,

that his contemporaries',

works started selling

thousand dollars.

for several hundred

And Robert's works

were selling for $1,100.

Mapplethorpe, had a sort of

relationship with Warhol.

jealous or competitive

He would say to me weekly,

"If I die, will I have died

as Andy Warhol had?"

with as much money

And I'd say,

"No. Not nearly, not nearly."

I remember him saying to me

about being ill

once, how frustrated he was

because he was getting

all this money now,

and he actually said,

"I won't be able to enjoy it."

He was not very interested

in leaving money to people.

So the foundation idea

really began to appeal to him

because his money,

his art collection

his assets, his real estate,

would support his foundation.

So, it would

automatically promote him.

Edward:

for his birthday,

Robert sent for me

his 40th birthday party,

That's when I was like,

"Whoa. This is not good."

Robert Mapplethorpe's

way to interpret me

was totally different than

any other photographer.

He wanted my hair back,

so that was unusual to me.

Everybody has always wanted me

to do a hairdo.

He wanted a very,

very natural feel.

I look like an angel

on that picture.

So, how can I not be pleased?

He was the first photographer

in profile.

to photograph me completely

It's never...

He was the only one.

The profile was just so much

more soul-baring.

I got to sort of study him.

He didn't seem happy.

Everything seemed precious,

and I think there was no sense

or be frivolous.

of wanting to waste time

In German, you say...

There is this word, getrieben,

which means as if something

is chasing you constantly.

I used to go and visit him.

he was dying,

We both sense that

but we didn't talk about it.

And he had that very

sad expression,

- because - He didn't want to leave.

He wanted to stay, you know?

And one day he said,

- "I need to take - A photograph of you

"and you need this one

to be the last one,"

because this is going

is what he say.

I say, "Don't be silly."

And it was.

- Edward: - It was just sort of

- Business as usual until - Things progressed,

And he was having a harder

out of his seat and...

and harder time getting

- And he had a horrible, - Horrible cough,

Which I guess was typical.

Six o'clock would roll around

and then he'd sort of be like,

"Can you come

keep me company?"

It was this little boy.

"Don't leave. Stay with me."

Yeah, little baby voice.

Edward:

not feeling particularly well,

Robert was in his bedroom,

and he's like,

"I'd like to do a picture

you know, he's like,

- "with my hand - Holding the skull cane."

And I said to Brian,

to be a self-portrait."

I said, "Listen, this has got

And it wasn't often

his own picture,

that he'd want to take

but he had been trying.

I took the skull cane

and I held it like this,

and I said, "Do a Polaroid."

(camera whirs)

- I brought it to Robert, he was - Like, "Wow. That's good."

His knee started to hurt,

so we put a chair

in for him to sit on.

That's the classic

masterpiece picture.

It's a tremendous photograph,

one of the greatest

self-portraits of all time.

- Man: - It's 2:38 here in the WNBC.

- Weather: cloudy, breezy, - Chance of showers

- And thunderstorms right - Through the evening.

The low tonight in the low

60s, right now, 74 degrees.

Man:

electric that day.

There was something

It wasn't just an opening.

It was a...

a memorial

with a living corpse.

- Colacello: - Your heart - Just went out to him

Because here he was

that he dreamed of

having the success

from those days in

coffee shops in the Village,

and, you know,

you could tell he was dying.

Not too much.

This is... someone took

this picture of me

taking a picture of him.

He knew what

I was doing there.

- I think he understood - The whole thing.

He didn't like it,

but he understood it.

I think that was

his proudest day, I really do.

He looked like

the king sitting there.

It had everything

from flowers to fist-fucking.

And I had to go around

in a wheelchair.

the room with my mother

Wow, yeah.

- When I saw - The one with the whip,

I said, "Oh, my God."

And I ran

and go to my kids and...

"That's him?

It was a self-portrait?"

Edward:

He loved attention,

even though

that he was a dying man,

it had to do with the fact

it didn't matter.

Becker:

I mean it stunned people.

It was one picture.

We all sort of were under

be this glorious article,

the impression it was gonna

when in fact,

Yeah.

that was sad.

I'm sure he saw

Yeah.

his own mortality...

Very clearly

at that moment.

His image out there,

elegant creature,

this handsome, vain,

and people really

were shocked.

I mean, come on, it was like,

he was alive.

Woman:

Mapplethorpe has been

Working with Robert

my most enlightening

and rewarding curatorial

experience.

I felt that Robert

was so important.

Mapplethorpe's work

So I went to New York

and visited him at his studio.

We started to talk.

He was very easy to talk to.

I felt after five minutes

a long time.

that I had known him

Mapplethorpe:

the X, Y, Z portfolios?

Have you ever seen

There's an X portfolio

there's 13 of them,

which is sex pictures,

and then there's Y

which is flowers,

and the Z which is blacks.

He was particularly interested

in showing the X, Y, Z series,

which had not been shown

before in its entirety.

Mapplethorpe:

to have a wall

It may be interesting

where you have

a row of X, Y, and Z

on one mass, sort of,

in three rows of something.

Kardon:

of displaying them

We devised a way

in a case that would

could not see into it,

be so high that a child

but an adult could

look down upon it.

I remember showing my husband

some of the pictures

before the exhibition opened.

He said, "Janet, do you

know what you're doing?"

But I didn't listen to him.

Maybe I was crazy.

(lively chattering)

Hi, Robert!

Here we are.

You're with us.

You're with us

and we're with you.

I think you can tell

by the sound in the gallery.

whether a show is successful

If people are talking a lot,

just doesn't have it.

you know, somehow the show

In the Mapplethorpe show,

there was silence.

You could hear a pin drop.

Edward:

a terrible night for Robert

This one time, it was

and he was almost

hallucinating a bit

- and he ended up pulling out - Some of the IVs,

So I had blood dripping

out of his arm, and IVs,

and I had to... he... I know

I had to clean him up.

He'd shat in the bed,

and I'm like, "Oh, my God."

That night, Robert looked

at me teary-eyed, crying,

and said, "Oh, my God."

He's like, "I'm dying.

"I'm dying."

And I had to say, "Yeah."

What could you...

I couldn't... I mean, "Yes."

♪ ♪

Robert gave a going-away

party for himself,

a lavish cocktail party

at his loft.

Waiters walking

around with silver trays

with a little tiny Bellini

and caviar and champagne.

It was very elegant.

(Mapplethorpe's voice)

Croland:

in the middle of the room.

And Robert was sitting

I walked up to him

and kneeled down at his feet

- and came - Face-to-face with him.

- He said, - "You still look so beautiful."

And I said, "Thank you."

I said, "What do you

want me to do?"

He said, "I want you

to tell her everything.

Keep me alive."

Suzanne:

Well, this is it.

"March 8th.

"The last two days

have been hell.

- "The funny part is not knowing - How to say goodbye.

"Letting go.

Are words enough?"

I was just like,

"Come on, Robert."

- Just like have - A conversation with me

- And just say, "You know what, - I'm proud of you,

And just keep it going,

and just do good work."

And... never got it.

Never got it.

(woman speaking)

Mapplethorpe:

and some days, no.

Some days, yes,

You know, on a daily basis,

I would say in any given day,

I'm happy part of the time

and not the rest, you know.

I think I'm a perfectionist

to be happy

and I think it's hard

if you like things

to be perfect

because things

are not perfect.

♪ ♪

- Helms: I don't know whether - The television cameras - Can see it or not.

- I'm gonna be fast enough - With it that they can't.

But I want senators to come

any doubt

over here, if they have

and look at the pictures.

- Protesters (chanting): - Keep your hands off!

Helms:

acknowledge that it's art.

I don't even

Protesters:

Get your hands off!

Keep your hands off!

- Helms: - I don't even acknowledge

- That the fellow who did it - Was an artist.

I think he was a jerk.

Protesters:

Get your hands off!

Keep your hands off!

Keep your hands off!

Keep your hands off!

Keep your hands off!

Keep your hands off!

Woman:

for two o'clock only.

This line is

You need a pass to get in

to see the exhibition.

- Man: - It happened.

What you're watching now

they made their move today

is the Cincinnati Police as

- against The Contemporary - Arts Center.

- Woman: - They temporarily closed

- The controversial - Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit

That resulted in charges today

Center and its director.

against The Contemporary Arts

It's an important exhibition.

It's important for this city

that it be seen here.

(angry shouting)

Man:

a bulletproof vest.

It was suggested that I wear

- There would be calls to - The home or calls to my office

- Saying, "We're gonna - Kill your children."

- Dan Rather: - The art gallery - And its director

Are charged with obscenity

the late Robert Mapplethorpe.

for exhibiting photographs by

(gavel banging)

- Reporter: - The jury took about two hours - To come up with its decision.

(man reading)

find the defendant not guilty

We, the jury in this case,

of pandering obscenity.

(crowd cheering)

Judge:

Order! Order!

(gavel banging)

(gavel banging)

Auctioneer:

Mapplethorpe Flag,

Next up is the Robert

the great "Star-Spangled

Banner," gelatin silver print,

for $48,000.

Now goes to 48,000,

48,000, 50, 55,000,

60, 65,000. Thank you, ma'am.

- He was always - Giving me his work.

$70,000 with Caroline.

I had, at least, half a dozen

photographs and a collage.

$70,000.

- Don't ask me what - I did with this, please,

Because if I kept it,

I'd be in my villa in Tuscany.

I wouldn't be here.

I can't discuss,

too upsetting.

Sold!

I threw it away.

Sold!

When I moved.

Sold!

Lebowitz:

to an art dealer.

I told this once

- And he said, "I can't believe - You didn't know

"that someone as ambitious as

wouldn't become famous."

Robert... as clearly ambitious,

And I said, "No one

could have imagined

"that photographs would

be so valuable financially."

Because they weren't.

No photographs were.

It wasn't just

No one could imagine it.

that I couldn't imagine it.

Whatever it took

to become Robert Mapplethorpe

is what it was gonna take

and it took

his life to do it...

Literally.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Man: - Mapplethorpe by himself, - The name is really great.

It's like Titian or Piranesi.

Just the name,

that's all you need

- is the last name - To recognize the artist.

It's so clear and simple.

What if you stacked

three images into the...

We can't have nudity

'cause the city regulations.

on the street banners

So that's one point

second is the color.

of discussion,

This is a mock-up

for our opening reception.

of the invitation

His self-portrait

then inside message.

on the front,

Then the RSVP card.

It's just an innocuous flower,

Office would object to.

not anything that the Post

I'm not planning to put

a curtain, but I'm sure

there'll be some kind

as people go in.

of warning on the gallery

Well, and with her holding

her sculpture.

- -Oh, that was purposeful. - -Yeah, it's so great.

I wanted to put

her sculpture, Lafayette,

Louise Bourgeois holding

which looks like a phallus,

"Man in the Polyester Suit."

next to the picture of

-Yes, with his actual phallus.

-It's a curatorial pun.

♪ ♪