Autographs of Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Michael Mapplethorpe (/ˈmeɪpəlˌθɔːrp/ MAY-pəl-thorp; November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-portraits, and still-life images. His most controversial works documented and examined the gay male BDSM subculture of New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Mapplethorpe's 1989 exhibition, Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment, sparked a debate in the United States concerning both use of public funds for "obscene" artwork and the Constitutional limits of free speech in the United States.
Mapplethorpe was born in the Floral Park neighborhood of Queens, New York City, the son of Joan Dorothy (Maxey) and Harry Irving Mapplethorpe, an electrical engineer. He was of English, Irish, and German descent, and grew up as a Catholic at Our Lady of the Snows Parish. Mapplethorpe attended Martin Van Buren High School, where he graduated in 1963. He had three brothers and two sisters. One of his brothers, Edward, later worked for him as an assistant and became a photographer as well. He attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he majored in Graphic Arts, but dropped out in 1969 before finishing his degree.
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Traded items with a signature of Robert Mapplethorpe

The most expensive item with a signature of Robert Mapplethorpe (Black Book Robert Mapplethorpe Signed hardcover rare) was sold in March 2025 for £1,606.43 while the cheapest item (Robert Mapplethorpe Flowers Signed by Patti Smith 1st/4h PB 1999 Bulfinch Press) found a new owner for £45.00 in March 2024. The month with the most items sold (4) was November 2025 with an average selling price of £311.44 for an autographed item of Robert Mapplethorpe. Sold items reached their highest average selling price in March 2025 with £1,405.63 and the month that saw the lowest prices with £63.61 was April 2025. In average, an autographed item from Robert Mapplethorpe is worth £222.28.

Most recently, these items with a signature of Robert Mapplethorpe were sold on eBay - click here for more items.

Picture	Item Title	Price	Store
	Arthur Rimbaud "A Season In Hell" Signed by Robert Mapplethorpe LIMITED EDITION	£720.46
	Certain People by Robert Mapplethorpe Rare 1985 Ed Signed: Subject Jim Freeman	£106.02
	LADY: LISA LYON, SIGNED BY ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE & LISA LYON 1st ED, Paperback	£553.14
	LAST 1, SIGNED PATTI SMITH, EARLY WORK 1970-1979, HC 1st ED.,ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE	£85.66
	LEC LE Robert Mapplethorpe Photographs Signed "A Season In Hell" #996/1000	£904.15
	Playing with the Edge: Robert Mapplethorpe by Arthur C. Danto SIGNED	£54.76
	Robert Mapplethorpe / SOME WOMEN VON MAPPLETHORPE Some Women Signed 1st ed 1989	£745.38
	Robert Mapplethorpe Apr 10 - May 17, 1981 Frankfurt Kuntsverein Catalog Signed !	£524.11
	Robert Mapplethorpe, John Ashbery / PISTILS Signed 1st Edition 1996	£184.11
	Robert Mapplethorpe: Certain People SIGNED HB DJ 1st Ed Twelvetrees Press 1985	£220.58
	SIGNED by PATTI SMITH - JUST KIDS, Hardcover FIRST EDITION, ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE	£223.98
	SIGNED BY PATTI SMITH - JUST KIDS, HARDCOVER FIRST EDITION, ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE	£78.46
	SIGNED BY PATTI SMITH, CORAL SEA, HARDCOVER FIRST ED., 1996, ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE	£98.77
	SIGNED BY PATTI SMITH, EARLY WORK 1970-1979, HC FIRST ED., ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE	£80.84
	Susan Sontag preface / Robert Mapplethorpe 1985 -- inscribed by him Signed 1st	£959.97