Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe (2007)

84% of critics liked it
(19 reviews)
67% of users liked it
(418 ratings)

After serving in the Navy during World War II, Sam Wagstaff came home to New York City and pursued a career in advertising, and through his work in the ad game he developed a keen interest in photography. Reflecting his own personal evolution as he came to accept his homosexuality, Wagstaff became… More After serving in the Navy during World War II, Sam Wagstaff came home to New York City and pursued a career in advertising, and through his work in the ad game he developed a keen interest in photography. Reflecting his own personal evolution as he came to accept his homosexuality, Wagstaff became an enthusiastic collector of art photography and gained a reputation as a curator, organizing a number of important museum shows of new photographers and becoming a friend and confidante of artists such as Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Richard Tuttle, and Tony Smith. In the early '70s, Wagstaff met a young photographer, Robert Mapplethorpe, who shared a loft with his best friend, a poet and aspiring musician named Patti Smith. Wagstaff and Mapplethorpe became first friends and then lovers, and as enthusiastic supporters of Smith's work they traveled between New York's upscale art community and the punk rock scene that was emerging on the Bowery. Passionate allies in art and life who explored the edges of human experience, Wagstaff and Mapplethorpe were partners for life, but their lives were cut short by AIDS -- the disease claimed Wagstaff in 1987, and Mapplethorpe in 1989. Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe is a documentary by filmmaker James Crump that explores the lives of two remarkable people, their circle of talented friends, and the community and times which surrounded them. Black White + Gray received its world premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 12 min.
Directed By: James Crump
Written By: James Crump
Genres: Documentary, Musical & Performing Arts, Gay & Lesbian, Special Interest

In Theaters: Oct 19, 2007 Wide
On DVD: Apr 8, 2008
Studio: Arthouse Films

Critic Reviews

Sid Smith, Chicago Tribune
The movie makes its main point. Wagstaff was an important, complex, fascinating figure, well worth remembering.
Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle
Wagstaff's character accounts for some of the frustration the film induces. Crumb's documentary style accounts for the rest.
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News
Wagstaff was a fascinating figure and deserves the detailed tribute provided here.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
A potent exercise in art-world mythography.
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com
Black White & Gray raises provocative questions but can't answer them, or even frame them with total clarity.
Nathan Lee, Village Voice
A modest chronicle of an audacious life.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
Crump's film is a vitally important document in this respect, bringing out Wagstaff's personality and vividly capturing the stories of the people who knew him.
James Christopher, Times [UK]
This is a terrific documentary by James Crump about the unsung collector, Wagstaff, and his lopsided relationship with his hungry young lover, Mapplethorpe.
Sam Jordison, Film4
A well made portrait of an intriguing man, presented with a tragic but resounding weight.
David Jenkins, Time Out
Crump's film colourfully depicts Wagstaff's complex inner mindset and rarefied eye for imagery by allowing the stunning prints to linger on the screen.
Richard Knight, Windy City Times
Let's hope this is the springboard for a biopic on the art world's dynamic gay duo - maybe by the time it gets made we'll even have some openly gay actors to play the parts.
Bill Gibron, DVDTalk.com
This film stands as a nice beginning to a necessary Wagstaff reexamination. Yet as with most tastes of something savory, we want another serving.
David Noh, Film Journal International
This ham-handed interpolation of irrelevant footage is the chief demerit of his movie.
Ron Wilkinson, Monsters and Critics
The more famous Mapplethorpe is moved aside to give Sam Wagstaff the spotlight. But the best photography in the world steals the show.
Kent Turner, Film-Forward.com
The film itself is staid in comparison to the descriptions of the '70s high life.
Noel Murray, AV Club
Fine, but a little dry.
Rob Humanick, Slant Magazine
Draws out the unseen riches that exist within what may otherwise appear typical or commonplace.
Kam Williams, NewsBlaze
Relatively tame retrospective about the relationship of a gay patron of the arts and his famous photographer lover best remembered for graphic, homoerotic snapshots featuring shocking sights like that of a bullwhip in a tight place.

Read all 18 critic reviews

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Walter M

In cataloguing the relationship between art collector Sam Wagstaff and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, the documentary "Black White and Gray" does a good job of showing the role of the collector in the art world, especially Wagstaff who was very influential in shaping… More
In cataloguing the relationship between art collector Sam Wagstaff and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, the documentary "Black White and Gray" does a good job of showing the role of the collector in the art world, especially Wagstaff who was very influential in shaping tastes, especially in the realm of photography. The emphasis is more on Wagstaff which is okay since so much has already been written about Mapplethorpe. Strangely enough on the subject of Mapplethorpe's photgraphy, the movie is oddly timid, going around in circles in desperately avoiding to admit the eroticism of the photographs. The same could be said about the details of the relationship.(Luckily, Patti Smith is on hand to fill in the blanks of how unique it was, with her actually being an equal partner.) Yes, it is possible that Mapplethorpe used Wagstaff but if that's the case, then I would agree that Wagstaff also used him, as like any relationship both partners had a profound effect on each other and on the wider art world.

Cast

            Joan Juliet Buck as Narrator

            Sam Wagstaff
            
            Robert Mapplethorpe
            
            Patti Smith
            
            Jeffrey Fraenkel
            
            Tukey Koffend
            
            Eugenia Parry
            
            Dominick Dunne
            
            John Richardson
            
            John Szarkowski
            
            Holly Solomon
            
            Ingrid Sischy
            
            Clark Worswick
            
            Raymond Foye
            
            Pierre Apraxine
            
            Philippe Garner
            
            Paul Walter
            
            Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
            
            John Giorno
            
            Ralph Gibson
            
            Dick Cavett
            
            Truman Capote
            
            Richart Tuttle
            
            Jean-Jacques Naudet
            
            Agnes Martin
            
            Henry Geldahler
            
            Tony Smith
            
            Gordon Baldwin
            
            Henry Geldzahler
            
            Richard Tuttle
            
See full cast