Mapplethorpe's photos secured by L.A. museums

A vast trove of Robert Mapplethorpe's photos, drawings and collagesis heading to Los Angeles, after two West Coast museums jointly acquired archivesof the provocative New York artist.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the J. Paul Getty Trust will preserve Mapplethorpe's art and archives.

Valued at more than $30 million US, the collection is drawn largely from the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation in New York.

"His legacy is absolutely enormous and it's only growing in stature as the years go by," Sean Kelly, whose namesake gallery represents the Mapplethorpe Foundation in the Americas, told The Associated Press.

"This acquisition is an indication of how important Mapplethorpe is and the critical position he occupies in recent contemporary art."

After studying drawing, painting and sculpture at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Mapplethorpe first became known for his collage works. In the late 1970s, he shot to fame and notoriety for his shocking images documenting New York's S&M scene.

"I don't like that particular word shocking. I'm looking for the unexpected. I'm looking for things I've never seen before," Mapplethorpe said in a 1988 interview.

"I was in a position to take those pictures. I felt an obligation to do them."

Though his oeuvre also prominently featured floral still-lifes and celebrity portraiture, it was his dramatic nudes and powerful, sexually charged imagery that sparked controversy even after his death from AIDS-related complicationsin 1989. His works have been blasted by some, exhibits of his photos have been cancelled amid protest and gallery officials charged with obscenity for displaying his art.

The Mapplethorpe acquisition is the first time ever the LACMA and the Getty Museum have joined forces to purchase a collection. No financial details were released.

The collection includes more than 2,000 of the artist's photos, thousands of negatives and contact sheets, several film and video art pieces, drawings and hand-painted collages. The trove also includes works by Mapplethorpe's contemporaries as well as some of his personal correspondence.