X Portfolio, 1978

Complete ‘X’ portfolios are rare and seldom come to market. This marks only the second time a complete set has come to auction in fifteen years.

Robert Mapplethorpe’s 1978 ‘X’ portfolio is still one of the most provocative collections of photographs ever presented in the medium’s history. Included in all his major monographs as well as his monumental 1988 retrospective The Perfect Moment, these images have become quintessential in Mapplethorpe’s expansive oeuvre. In 1977, having recently discovered Manhattan’s gay S&M scene, Mapplethorpe began documenting the ongoings of this underground community. Eventually, he selected thirteen of his best images from the period and, in collaboration with gallerist Robert Miller and art dealers Harry Lunn and Robert Self, published them as one portfolio titled ‘X.’ Both shocking for their explicit content and exceptional for their technical mastery, these photographs became less about popularizing S&M and more about bridging the gap between elegance and provocation, sparking fervent debates around free speech and obscenity for generations to come.

Other complete ‘X’ portfolios are in the permanent collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, New York; the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; and the Stedelijk Museum, Breda, among others.

The plates are as follows:
1. Cedric, N.Y.C., 1977
2. Jim, Sausalito, 1977
3. Jim and Tom, Sausalito, 1977
4. Patrice, N.Y.C., 1977
5. Scott, N.Y.C., 1977
6. Joe, N.Y.C., 1978
7. Ken, N.Y.C., 1978
8. Helmut, N.Y.C., 1978
9. John, N.Y.C., 1978
10. Helmut and Brooks, N.Y.C., 1978
11. Lou, N.Y.C., 1978
12. Dick, N.Y.C., 1978
13. Self Portrait, N.Y.C., 1978