Robert Mapplethorpe was one of the twentieth century's most important and influential artists, known for his groundbreaking and provocative work. He studied painting, drawing, and sculpture in Brooklyn in the 1960s and started taking photographs when he acquired a Polaroid camera in 1970. This comprehensive monograph is an overview of the artist's black-and-white photography of floral still lifes, nudes, selfportraits, and portraits, among other subjects—and also includes a selection of his color images.