LACMA, Getty acquire art, archives of Mapplethorpe

[February 09, 2011]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Thousands of Robert Mapplethorpe photographs and his archives have been jointly acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the J. Paul Getty Trust.

Valued at more than $30 million, the bulk of the work came from New York's Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. The museum and trust say the rest was obtained with donations from The David Geffen Foundation and the Getty trust.

Mapplethorpe died of AIDS at age 42 in 1989. His controversial images -- including human bodies, sex and nudity -- have been at the forefront of the country's culture wars.

His work was targeted in Cincinnati, and in October 1990, museum director Dennis Barrie was acquitted of pandering after a trial that focused on the use of public money to support art that some considered obscene.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.