Robert Mapplethorpe and Mark Isaacson were close friends throughout the 1980s. Mapplethorpe photographed several catalogs for Fifty/50 and Isaacson supplied most all of the ceramics seen in Mapplethorpe's photographs. Here, Isaacson is wearing an Ed Wiener brooch that Nacozy says was the first piece of jewelry he bought and it sparked his interest in mid-century American studio jewelry. It was included in Fifty/50's landmark exhibition Structure and Ornament: American Modernist Jewelry 1940-1960. It is pictured below in the original catalog.
The Collection of Mark Isaacson and Greg Nacozy includes over two-hundred works from one of the most significant figures in mid-century collecting. Mark established the influential Fifty/50 gallery in New York in 1981 (later partnering with Mark McDonald and Ralph Cutler in 1983), which shaped the tastes and collecting habits of many and brought furniture, decorative arts and jewelry from the 1930s, 40s and 50s to the forefront of the market at a time when they were largely overlooked.
Fifty/50’s and Mark’s legacy is most closely associated with bringing Italian art glass to the United States (Mark even advised the MET on their Italian glass collection) and raising the profile of mid-century furniture and American studio jewelry and ceramics; iconic examples of each are represented in this auction, including an early Rudder Stool by Isamu Noguchi, Charlotte Perriand’s and Pierre Jeanneret’s Bahut No. 2, a Gerrit Rietveld Zig-Zag chair, pottery by Edwin and Mary Scheier and Fausto Melotti, and Venini glassworks.
The most exciting aspects of this auction are the more intimate ones—the works from Mark's and Greg's personal collection that speak to Mark's eclectic taste, his boundless curiosity and sensitivity toward objects and art, and how generous he was in sharing his interests with others and letting them share with him. Standouts include several works by Robert Mapplethorpe—who was close friends with Mark, photographed several Fifty/50 catalogs and got many of the ceramics in his photographs from the gallery—the ecstatic wood construction Wild Plant by Leo Amino, a painting by Ralston Crawford of a spectacularly minimalist skyscraper façade, and photographic works by Man Ray, Edward Weston, Lynn Davis and Dorothea Lange.
This auction also features many works that tie together the thread of Mark’s collecting practices, going beyond the downtown New York sensibilities of the 1980s and showing the scope of eras and cultures that interested him; the sgraffito incisions on a 1940s Scheier vase echo the geometric features of a Senufo Kpeliye'e mask, the entrancing and complex shadows of a grain elevator in a photograph by Ralston Crawford contrast with the severe plainness of a New York City step-back building captured by Walker Evans, and the radical gestures of gay image making are seen in the works of George Platt Lynes, Paul Cadmus and Robert Loughlin. One of the artists in this sale, George Dureau, a photographer from New Orleans (where Greg is also from) who greatly influenced Mapplethorpe early in his career, perhaps best captures the spirit of this collection, saying about his own work:
“I live a warm, involved, humanist sort of life. There are lots of people passing through it. I have exciting experiences and learn things about people. They always go into my art. I cannot have an experience and it not go into my art.”
Fifty/50 gallery reshaped the collecting market during its twelve-year existence, closing in 1993 after Mark passed away from AIDS; his partner Greg has cared for the collection since. The Collection of Mark Isaacson and Greg Nacozy offers an opportunity to see a short but impactful life lived through an enthusiasm for art and design, one that inspired many to see and appreciate objects and live with them as fully as Mark did.
Robert Mapplethorpe 1946–1989
Robert Mapplethorpe was a photographer, known for his black and white photographs of nudes, floral still-lifes and self-portraits. He was born in the Floral Park neighborhood of Queens in 1946. In 1963, Mapplethorpe began his studies at the Pratt Institute, where he pursued painting, drawing and sculpture. His earlier influences, Joseph Cornell and Marcel Duchamp, directed him towards mixed media collage, using found images and advertisements. Never intending to be a photographer, his first works were made in this medium.
In 1966, Mapplethorpe met Patti Smith, and three years later they moved into the Chelsea Hotel together. She supported him by working in bookstores and they created art together. Patti was a recurring figure in Mapplethorpe’s portraits. They were together until 1972, but maintained a close friendship throughout his life.
Mapplethorpe purchased a Polaroid camera, in 1972, and began to make his first photographs. To him, the photographs felt more honest than the collage work he was making at the time. The Light Gallery, in New York City, held Mapplethorpe’s first solo gallery exhibition, entitled Polaroids. Around this time, Mapplethorpe met curator, Sam Wagstaff. He would become the artist’s benefactor, lover, and lifetime companion. Sam gifted Mapplethorpe a Hasselblad 500 camera and he began taking photographs regularly, starting with his close friends.
From 1977 through 1980, Mapplethorpe was in a relationship with Jack Fritscher, a writer and the editor of Drummer, a leather subculture magazine. It was through his relationship with Jack that Mapplethorpe was introduced to Mineshaft, a members-only BDSM gay leather bar and sex club. Mapplethorpe photographed at the club often, and his work began to focus on the S&M underground scene. While some found his photographs of the New York S&M scene to be shocking, his technical prowess could not be denied.
He also worked on commercial projects, such as creating album art for Patti Smith and the band Television, and portraits and pictures of parties for Interview Magazine. Mapplethorpe’s artistic career thrived as he continued to create work in multiple avenues. He showed work at Documenta 6 in Kassel, Germany and was later represented by the Robert Miller Gallery in New York City, his exclusive dealer.
Mapplethorpe was photographing many different subjects by this time including flowers and celebrities. He continued to shoot album covers for Patti Smith, as well as a portrait of her in 1975 that was reminiscent of Albrecht Durer’s self-portrait from 1500. Between 1980 to 1983, Mapplethorpe made over 150 photographs of bodybuilder Lisa Lyon, creating the photobook Lady, Lisa Lyon.
Throughout the 80’s, Mapplethorpe’s photographs continued to challenge the social ideals and aesthetics of the time. In 1986, he designed the sets for Lucinda Childs’ Portraits in Reflection dance performance. He created a photogravure series for Arthur Rimbaud’s book, A Season in Hell. Mapplethorpe was also commissioned to take the portraits for the book, 50 New York Artists.
In the same busy year, Mapplethorpe was diagnosed with AIDS. He fought his illness and continued to make work and accept difficult commissions.
The Whitney Museum of American Art opened Mapplethorpe’s first major retrospective in 1988, one year before his death. Mapplethorpe established the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation in 1988, to leave his legacy in a foundation that works to promote photography, support museums that exhibit photographic art and to fund medical research for HIV and AIDS.
Auction Results Robert Mapplethorpe
