Dianne Benson, a maverick 1980s retailer, contributed to establishing New York City’s Soho neighborhood as a prime fashion destination. She commissioned Mapplethorpe on multiple occasions to photograph selected garments sold in her store, such as this Seagull coat designed by JC de Castelbajac. Diane Benson in Vogue, 13 July 2018: “There was a wonderful jumble of models and people. Everything didn’t have a market brand attached to it—it was real. Not all the stores were as edgy and artsy as mine were, but at the time it was natural for me to work with Peter Hujar and Robert Mapplethorpe and Cindy Sherman, and connect them with Gaultier and Dorothée Bis and Issey [Miyake]: It was all just one like-minded time.”

Permanent Collections

• ARTIST ROOMS: National Galleries of Scotland and Tate, United Kingdom
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art / J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California

Exhibitions

• Robert Mapplethorpe: More Life. Kukje Gallery, Seoul, South Korea, February 18 - March 28, 2021
• Artist Rooms Scottish Tour: Robert Mapplethorpe. Dunoon Burgh Hall. Traveled to: Gallery at Linlithgow Burgh Halls, Linlithgow, UK (2012); Perth Museum & Art Gallery, Perth, UK (2012); Old Gala House, Galashiels, UK (2013)
• Robert Mapplethorpe. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Scotland, July 29 - November 5, 2006
• Robert Mapplethorpe. Curated by Robert Wilson. Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria, July 22 - September 23, 2006
• Robert Mapplethorpe: Tra Antico e Moderno. Un’antologia. Palazzina della Promotrice delle Belle Arti, Turin, Italy, October 8, 2005 - January 1, 2006
• Robert Mapplethorpe: Eye to Eye. Curated by Cindy Sherman. Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY, September 13 - October 18, 2003
• Robert Mapplethorpe. Centre Cultural La Beneficència, Valencia, Spain, September 16 - November 28, 1999
• Robert Mapplethorpe. Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany, April 10 - May 18, 1981. Traveled to: Fotogalerie Forum Stadtpark, Graz, Austria; Modern Art Galerie, Vienna, Austria; PPS Galerie F.C. Gundlach, Hamburg, Germany; Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Kunstverein, Munich, Germany; Nikon Foto Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland
• New York/New Wave. Curated by Diego Cortez. PS1 (Project Studios One), Queens, NY, February 15 – April 5, 1981

Publications

• Robert Mapplethorpe: More Life. Edited by Yongwoo Lee. Seoul, Korea: Kukje Gallery, 2022. Exhibition Catalogue
• MX7: MapplethorpeX7. Edited by Richard Flood. New York: teNeues, 2011. Exhibition Catalogue
• Mapplethorpe. Edited by Arthur C. Danto. Germany: teNeues, 2007. Monograph
• Robert Mapplethorpe. Edited by Keith Hartley. Edinburgh, Scotland: Trustees of the National Galleries of Scotland, 2006. Exhibition Catalogue
• Robert Mapplethorpe. Tra Antico e Moderno, un antologia. Edited by Germano Celant. Florence, Italy: Artificio Skira, 2005. Exhibition Catalogue
• Robert Mapplethorpe. Edited by Sala Parpalló. Valéncia, Spain: Centre Cultural la Beneficència, 1999. Exhibition Catalogue
• Mapplethorpe. Edited by Arthur C. Danto, Mark Holborn and Dimitri Levas. New York: Random House, 1992. Monograph
• Robert Mapplethorpe. Edited by Patti Smith. New York: Bellport Press, 1987. Monograph
• Robert Mapplethorpe: Certain People: A Book of Portraits. Edited by Robert Mapplethorpe. Pasadena, CA: Twelvetrees Press, 1985. Monograph.— Robert Mapplethorpe. Edited by Peter Weiermair. Germany: Frankfurter Kunstverein, 1981. Exhibition Catalogue