Recalled as the lover and patron of Robert Mapplethorpe, Sam Wagstaff here takes centre stage as a leading American intellectual and cultural visionary. Philip Gefter traces Wagstaff's evolution from society "bachelor" of the 1940s to his emergence as rebellious curator. In 1972, his meeting with twenty-five-year-old Mapplethorpe, would lead to his legacy as world-class photography collector and cultural arbiter.

Positioning Wagstaff's personal life against the rise of photography as a major art form and the simultaneous formation of the gay rights movement, Gefter's absorbing biography provides a searing portrait of New York just before and during the age of AIDS. The result is a definitive and memorable portrait of a man and an era.

About the Author
Philip Gefter was on staff at The New York Times for over fifteen years, where he wrote regularly about photography. His essays are collected in the book Photography After Frank (2009). He lives in New York City.

Reviews
"...striking, sexy biography of a charismatic man in the best and worst of times." -- The Times
"...this excellent and overdue biography..." -- The Telegraph
"Gefter is very good on New York's gay milieu and his book is full of racy details." -- The Independent
"...Philip Gefter tells the fascinating story of art curator and collector Sam Wagstaff, who helped create a market boom when he turned his eye to photography in the 1970s." -- Popular Photography
"His [Wagstaff's] role in establishing photography as a major art form is given its due here." -- Apollo Magazine



Book Information
ISBN 9781631490958
Author Philip Gefter
Format Paperback
Page Count 480
Imprint Liveright Publishing Corporation
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 673g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 145mm * 36mm