It may have been eroticism that flew Robert Mapplethorpe to fame but simmering just below the surface is his constant strive for aesthetic perfection. Twenty-five years on from his untimely death, a new exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris pays homage to this aspect of his work, the classic beauty so often overlooked in favour of his often shocking physical subject matter.

We can’t be blamed for focusing on the latter. Groins, thighs, the line of a pelvic bone; they’re all mesmerising and at the end of the day, Mapplethorpe did helm the introduction of homosexual erotica to galleries and museums. His visceral portrayals of the burgeoning gay subcultures in 1970s and 80s New York defined a generation and remain an icon of sexual freedom today. Of course there are also his silvery polaroids of the rich and famous, capturing Grace Jones and Andy Warhol and every flamboyant high-flyer in-between.

But the style Mapplethorpe captured his subjects in is what makes them so transcendent. Crisp and classic, he once compared his works to statues: “I see things like sculptures, as forms that take up space.” This, specifically, will be the focus of a second exhibition upcoming in Paris at Musée Rodin.

As we clock over a quarter of a century and multiple retrospectives in this vein crop up it’s tempting to think that the most lasting element of Mapplethorpe’s work is in fact his perfectionism. The Grand Palais certainly thinks so – delve in and explore over 200 images that span his work from the early 1970s through to the end of a regretfully short era.

Robert Mapplethorpe runs until July 26 at Grand Palais, 3 Avenue du Général Eisenhower, 75008 Paris