Black White + Gray

Black white and gray is the story of Sam Wagstaff; a legendary New York socialite and art collector. The most high profile relationship both professionally and personally was the one he has with photographer Robert Mappelthorpe; a sexy young wonderkind 25 years his junior when they met. Everyone who has any interest in modern art knows who Mappelthorpe is, but maybe not how he got to the level of fame he achieved. That’s where Sam comes in. Though both Mappelthorpe and Wagstaff died of Aids, the story is told by their best friends and confidantes, and films of themselves. The poet/ musician Patti Smith was a close personal friend of the couple for many years as was author Dominc Dunne. Sam was from a prominent New York family and was an extremely handsome and charming socialite that was in the closet for many years. His background was in advertising as Warhol’s was in the 50’s but he hated it with every fiber of his being. He went on to be a curator, and then a very zealous collector of photography. When the 1960’s and Stonewall rolled around, Sam found himself and his own voice and began exploring every dark corner of gay life. In one of those dark corners is where he found Mappelthorpe. He’d be a respected Park Avenue curator during the day, and a Bowery crawling sex club leather boy at night. Seeing the process of how Sam created the downtown art scene with his tastes and collections was amazing. He hosted Truman Capote’s legendary Black and White Ball at one of his galleries. He helped break some of the biggest modern artists and sculptors of the day with his patronage. He’d also influence Mappelthorpe’s tastes in the sexually deviant as well with his collections.

Sam would eventually change his direction, and later in life begin collecting American Silver which at the end of his life would fetch nearly a million dollars at auction at Christie’s. He’d leave the bulk of his fortune to Mappelthorpe, which he’d action off in chunks as his own health began to fail and he could no longer work. Dunne tells a story of going to see Mappelthorpe when he was close to death, laying in the middle of his living room on a bed. Robert tells Dominic that he wants to take his picture. Dominic says ‘I was afraid he would die in the middle of snapping the picture; that was how close to death he was. You see my fear in that picture.’ It was a voyeuristic view into the inner workings of Wagstaff’s intimate relationship with Mappelthorpe and the power of celebrity. A definite must see of all hardcore photogs.