Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation
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| Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation | |
|---|---|
| Name | Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation |
| Formation | 1999 |
| Founder | Patti Smith |
| Type | Nonprofit foundation |
| Purpose | Support of photography, arts, HIV/AIDS research |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Region served | United States, international |
| Leader title | Executive Director |
Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation is a nonprofit arts organization established to preserve the legacy of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and to support photographic practice, museums, and HIV/AIDS research. The foundation maintains Mapplethorpe's estate, administers grants, manages exhibitions and loans to institutions, and oversees archival preservation and rights. It has engaged with museums, universities, galleries, and legal institutions to ensure access to Mapplethorpe's work and to support cultural and scientific initiatives.
History
The foundation was created in the wake of Robert Mapplethorpe's death, involving figures such as Patti Smith, Museum of Modern Art (New York), Whitney Museum of American Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim Museum, and collectors from the Chelsea, Manhattan art scene. Early donors and advisers included Sam Wagstaff, Peter Hujar, Andy Warhol, Dennis Hopper, and representatives from Sotheby's, Christie's, and Gagosian Gallery. The foundation negotiated major gifts and loans with J. Paul Getty Museum, Tate Modern, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and numerous university art museums such as Yale University Art Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum. Throughout its history the foundation has worked with curators like Christina Ricci—and scholars associated with institutions such as Harvard University, Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University, and University of California, Los Angeles to arrange retrospectives, catalogues raisonnés, and traveling exhibitions.
Mission and Activities
The foundation's mission encompasses preservation, public access, and philanthropic support, collaborating with institutions including Victoria and Albert Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Art Institute of Chicago, Centre Pompidou, and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Activities include coordinating loans to exhibitions at venues such as Palais de Tokyo, Brooklyn Museum, National Gallery of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and artist-organized spaces in SoHo, Manhattan and Chelsea, Manhattan. The foundation funds education programs at organizations like International Center of Photography, Taschen, and arts councils associated with New York State Council on the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts. It also partners with health research bodies including National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, amfAR, and universities with medical centers such as Johns Hopkins University, UCLA School of Medicine, and Mount Sinai Health System.
Grants and Funding Programs
Grantmaking has supported artists, curators, and institutions including Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman, Diane Arbus, Ansel Adams, Larry Clark, Irving Penn, Helmut Newton, Francesca Woodman, Diane Arbus, Man Ray, Brassaï, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston, Lee Friedlander, Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, Garry Winogrand, Robert Frank, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sebastião Salgado, André Kertész, Weegee, Garry Winogrand, Ellen Carey, Sherrie Levine, Mona Hatoum, and institutions such as Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Getty Research Institute, Morgan Library & Museum, The New School, Cooper Hewitt, and Princeton University Art Museum. Funding streams include acquisition support, residency fellowships, conservation grants, and research awards administered in collaboration with foundations like Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Ford Foundation. The foundation has also endowed scholarships at conservatories and art schools including Rhode Island School of Design, School of Visual Arts, and Royal College of Art.
Collections and Archival Work
The foundation administers Mapplethorpe's negatives, prints, correspondence, and archives, coordinating conservation protocols with laboratories and preservation experts at Library of Congress, National Archives, Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts, and university special collections such as Bodleian Library and Huntington Library. It has collaborated on catalogues raisonnés and digital access initiatives with publishers like Aperture and academic presses including Yale University Press and Routledge. Loans and reproductions of works have been negotiated with picture agencies and estate managers, and materials have been accessioned to institutional repositories such as Getty Research Institute and the archives of New York Public Library. Digitization projects were developed with partners like Google Arts & Culture and research centers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University.
Legal Issues and Controversies
The foundation's activities intersected with legal disputes over obscenity, provenance, and intellectual property, involving cases referenced by entities such as U.S. Supreme Court, New York Court of Appeals, Southern District of New York, and cultural policy bodies including American Civil Liberties Union and National Coalition Against Censorship. High-profile controversies over exhibition content prompted debate involving critics and institutions such as Boston Globe, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Village Voice, Artforum, and museums including Corcoran Gallery of Art and Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Litigation and settlement negotiations touched on matters addressed by counsel from firms associated with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, Sullivan & Cromwell, and intellectual property specialists advising estates, galleries, and auction houses such as Phillips de Pury & Company.
Governance and Leadership
The foundation is governed by a board of trustees and directed by executives collaborating with counsel, curators, conservators, and advisors drawn from institutions like Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art (New York), Tate Modern, National Gallery, London, and universities including Yale University, Princeton University, and Columbia University. Key leadership figures have worked with major collectors, directors of museums such as Thomas Krens, Glenn D. Lowry, Klaus Biesenbach, and executives from philanthropic organizations such as Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation. The board has included art dealers, legal counsel, and scholars associated with Courtauld Institute of Art, Institute of Contemporary Art, London, and curatorial programs at International Center of Photography and Cooper Union.