Photographs from the personal collection of legendary curator Sam Wagstaff, widely known both as a collector and as the artistic patron and partner of Robert Mapplethorpe. Published in conjunction with an exhibition held at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington. DC. Wagstaff presents his selections in deliberately chosen pairs of images: a Lewis Carroll portrait of a frowning child opposite an equally unamused caged hippopotomus; a twisting, surreal Dora Maar composite photograph faces the kitten waterfall of Dali Atomicus; a reclining Braquehais nude mirrors Elaine Mays’ tabby cat, photographed in the same posture a century later. The collection also includes work by Nadar, Lisette Model, Arnold Genthe, Robert Frank, August Sander, Julia Margaret Cameron, and numerous others from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

After much deliberation, Wagstaff selected a Mapplethorpe still life for the cover image (as well as personally insisting on the color of the pale peach border.) Philip Gester writes: “By choosing this picture [“Tulips, New York”] for the cover, Wagstaff places Robert Mapplethorpe as the contemporary link to the vast history of photography sampled inside.” The scarce hardcover issue to this landmark exhibition, warmly inscribed by Wagstaff.

$750