[ vincent ] Patricia Taxxon

Robert Mapplethorpe's flowers can stand along the finest floral paintings and photographs in modern art. His bouquets of irises or tulips, elegantly poised against a sun-drenched background, compare favorably with any flower grouping painted by Vincent Van Gogh. The textures, the colors, and the organic forms of the flowers are always persuasively rendered and, unmistakably, Mapplethorpe's