Rosie however, was one of only two photographs of nude children-the other, Jesse McBride (1976), featured a fully nude five year-old boy sitting on a chair. Many believe his intense focus on the nude body was an expression of his homosexuality. Several of his portfolios featured the S&M and LGBTQ* communities in New York City, particularly in nude portraits (“Biography”).

Nude photography was one of Mapplethorpe’s specialties. The trial took over a year, ending in acquittal and the public display of Mapplethorpe’s work at the CAC in 1990, just over one year after his death in 1989 (Mezibov). One of the most shocking was Rosie (1976), a photograph featuring a friend’s three year-old daughter sitting with her legs open, revealing her nude body beneath her dress. The majority of Mapplethorpe’s photos were labeled obscene and pornographic, leading to criminal charges pressed against the CAC and its director at the time, Dennis Barrie. cancelled the same exhibit only a few months earlier (Tannenbaum). Against politicians’ desires, the CAC decided to display Mapplethorpe’s work even though the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Robert Mapplethorpe, Self Portrait, gelatin silver print, 1980, © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.Īmerican photographer Robert Mapplethorpe shocked the international art community in 1988 with The Perfect Moment exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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