Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe

As charmed as he was charming, Sam Wagstaff was a household name in New York City’s exploding art scene throughout the seventies and eighties. In James Crump’s fascinating documentary Black, White and Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe, we meet a brilliant and complex personality, who still continues to elude and astonish even those who knew him best.
 
Wagstaff, whose aristocratic beginnings first led him to a career as an ad man, found his true calling while studying art history abroad through New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts. No one would have guessed that this handsome and debonair museum curator would soon take the art world by storm, presenting the kind of shows that challenged the status quo and helped to establish the careers of numerous unknown artists. Perhaps even more remarkable, is while critics continued to overlook photography as a relevant, credible art form, Wagstaff developed a growing affection for what soon became one of his two main obsessions: collecting photographs (the other, of course, being Robert Mapplethorpe). Realizing his infatuation with photography could not be satiated by his curatorial work alone, Wagstaff threw himself into collecting -- especially anonymous old snapshots, of which he, along with his friends Robert and Patti (Smith), bought up by the dozens. 

Sam, Robert, and Patti, having more than their love of photography in common, became great friends, with Sam and Robert’s relationship quickly evolving into that of mentor and protégé -- two rarefied eyes, awakened by mutual lust and desire for art and one another. 

Both born on November 4^th, exactly 25 years apart, Wagstaff and Mapplethorpe were perfect compliments for each other. Mapplethorpe, the poor punk artist raised in blue-collar Queens, would no doubt benefit from the support and guidance bestowed by his wealthy benefactor, Wagstaff, who at once had the means and the power to launch his career. At the same time, Mapplethorpe was Wagstaff’s Virgil, his guide through the underworld. With Mapplethorpe by his side, Wagstaff was no longer afraid to unleash the power and prowess of his own sexuality, which for years had lay dormant and unhinged.

Absorbing and informative, Black White + Gray seduced me with its abundance of personal anecdotes and stunning array of imagery from Wagstaff’s extensive collection of photographic prints. The interview with rock legend and punk poet Patti Smith, former lover of Mapplethorpe’s, long-time subject and muse, and his roommate at the infamous Chelsea Hotel, brought just the right touch of tenderness and warmth to a documentary filled with otherwise, pragmatic and (in a few cases) pointed commentary from art world luminaries and Wagstaff historians. 

In 1984, three years before Wagstaff would die of AIDS (and five years before the disease would also claim Mapplethorpe's life), Wagstaff sold what would be known as the world’s most valuable collection of photographs to the J. Paul Getty Museum for $5 million, and pursued his final passion, collecting American silver.

Always a bit mysterious and unknowable, Sam Wagstaff should not be forgotten, especially not by any serious student of art history or photography. His influence not only lives on through the works of Robert Mapplethorpe, but also through the way in which we regard photography today -- an art form whose future is always evolving and teaching us new things about our world.

Score: 3.75/5 stars
Watched on Netflix
Watch Black, White and Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe on Netflix or buy on Amazon here.