A Glimpse of Romance in Hardcore Mapplethorpe
Alastair Sooke, The Daily Telegraph
November 2016
A naked black youth is posing for the camera on a beach. With his athletic physique and arms extended outwards, he calls to mind a famous ancient Greek bronze sculpture of a god ready to hurl a thunderbolt. Except, unlike Zeus, this beardless man is softly smiling. Oh, there’s something else, too. Greek artists tended to represent male genitals on a modest scale. But the unabashed model in this picture, which was taken by the American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, is sporting an erection. […]