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INVENTORY OF THE SAMUEL WAGSTAFF PAPERS, 1796-1987 (bulk 1952-1986)
2005.M.46
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Table of contents
Title: Samuel Wagstaff papers
Date (inclusive): 1796-1987 (bulk 1952-1986)
Number: 2005.M.46
Creator/Collector:
Wagstaff, Samuel J.
Physical Description:
96.0 linear feet
(126 boxes, 5 rolls, 19 flatfiles)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: The papers document Sam Wagstaff's activities as curator and collector, with a focus on his collections and collecting processes.
The papers are rich in correspondence and include letters from artists, photographers and cultural institutions. Original
photographs and non-photographic original artworks are included, as well as slides, negatives, postcards, film reels, prints
and drawings.
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Language: Collection material is in
English.
Biographical / Historical Note
Curator and visionary photography collector Samuel Wagstaff Jr. was born 1921, in New York City. The son of a lawyer from
an old New York family and fashion designer Olga Piorkowska, Wagstaff graduated from Yale University and served in the Navy
during World War II. After the war and a short career in advertising he studied Renaissance art at New York University's Institute
of Fine Arts under the mentorship of Richard Offner. In 1959 he received a David E. Finley art history fellowship at the National
Gallery of Art. He assumed a curatorial position in contemporary art at the Wadsworth Atheneum from 1961 to 1968 and then
at the Detroit Institute of Arts from 1968 to 1971. At both institutions Wagstaff pursued his interest in the avant garde
and helped promote the careers of artists such as Michael Heizer, Tony Smith, Gordon Newton and Richard Tuttle.
In addition to his curatorial work, Wagstaff was a noted collector. He originally concentrated on avant-garde paintings. Following
his return to New York in the 1970s, he turned his attention to photography, with an initial focus on nineteenth- and early
twentieth-century French, British and American photography. Influenced by his long-term partner, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe,
Wagstaff's collecting later shifted toward more daring and contemporary photography. At a time when scholarship on the subject
was limited, Wagstaff promoted the significance of photography in lectures, on panels, and famously on the Dick Cavett television
show. Wagstaff loaned works from his photography collection for national and international exhibitions, often served as a
freelance curator, and regularly responded to requests for curatorial advice. In 1977 his own press published
A Book of Photographs from the Collection of Sam Wagstaff.
When Wagstaff's photography holdings numbered more than 2,500 masterworks, he sold the collection to the J. Paul Getty Museum
and focused on building a collection of 19th-century American silver. The New York Historical Society exhibited more than
100 examples from his silver collection in 1987, the last show curated by Wagstaff. His silver collection was sold at auction
following his death. Wagstaff died in 1987.
Open for use by qualified researchers with the following exceptions. Film reels are unavailable until reformatting is complete.
Documents pertaining to the J. Paul Getty Museum's acquisition of the Wagstaff photography collection (Box 83) is sealed until
2019.
Contact
Library Reproductions and Permissions .
Samuel Wagstaff papers, 1796-1987 (bulk 1952-1986), The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2005.M.46
Acquired from the Mapplethorpe Foundation in 2005.
The Samuel Wagstaff papers were initially processed and a preliminary inventory was made by Rheim Alkahdi in 2009. Laura Schroffel
completed processing the collection and created a finding aid under the supervision of Andra Darlington in 2011.
Sam Wagstaff postcard collection, ca. 1880-1980, Accession no. 96.R.13*.
Some books were transferred to the Getty Research Library general collection and may be found by searching the
library catalog for the Samuel Wagstaff Source Collection.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Samuel Wagstaff papers document his activities as curator and collector, with a focus on his collections and collecting
processes. The papers are rich in correspondence and include letters from artists, photographers and staff from cultural institutions.
Also included are original photographs, both contemporary and historic, as well as non-photographic original artworks. Among
other materials are slides, negatives, postcards, film reels, prints and drawings.
Series I is a collection of snapshots by Wagstaff, including color photographs (sometimes housed in albums), color negatives,
color slides, black-and-white contact prints and black-and-white negatives. The collection highlights cultural institutions,
landmarks, urban and industrial landscapes, various exteriors and city inhabitants. New York City is featured heavily. London,
Paris, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Detroit are also documented. This series is also rich in portraiture, including nudes, self-portraits,
portraits of Robert Mapplethorpe, Patti Smith and others.
Series II traces the development of Wagstaff's various collections through correspondence, receipts and other documentation,
and also includes original works of art by Dan Basen, Robert Morris and Gordon Newton. The focus of the series is Wagstaff's
collections of photography, silver, postcards, and contemporary art, but items from his less-known collections of prints,
flowers, currency and postage are also included. Correspondents represented in this series include artists Agnes Martin, Michael
Heizer, Alan Saret, Tony Smith and H.C. Westermann. Letters received, receipts and papers in this series often provide substantial
provenance information related to items in Wagstaff's collections. The papers include information on photographs and other
materials now owned by the Getty Museum.
Series III contains family photographs, including pictures of Wagstaff at various ages, and members of his immediate and extended
family. The series also contains assorted financial and personal documents, such as estate papers, tax records, property ownership
documents, medical records, astrological papers and identification.
Series IV contains the letters that were not filed by Wagstaff in another series. The bulk of the correspondence in this series
is from the 1970s and 1980s, after Wagstaff had stopped working as a professional curator and moved back to New York to focus
on collecting.
Series V contains photographs and documents regarding exhibitions, publications and artist research by Wagstaff. This series
includes documents regarding the founding of Wagstaff's publishing company, Gray Press, and its only publication,
A Book of Photographs from the Collection of Sam Wagstaff. Also in this series is a collection of cat photographs assembled by Wagstaff in relation to an article he wrote for
Artforum (1986).
The ephemera in Series VI consists of posters and exhibition announcements. Clippings include articles profiling Wagstaff
and his collections.
Series VII contains a film reel labeled, "Potatoes on a Studio Floor," as well as seven unidentified film reels and four undeveloped
reels. Films are unavailable until reformatting is complete.
Arranged in seven series:
Series I. Snapshots, 1969-1983, undated;
Series II. Collections, 1819-1987;
Series III. Personal papers, 1796-1986;
Series IV. Correspondence, 1909-1986;
Series V. Projects, 1914-1986;
Series VI. Ephemera and assorted papers, 1941-1986;
Series VII. Film reels, undated.
Heizer, Michael, 1944-
Mapplethorpe, Robert
Martin, Agnes, 1912-2004
Smith, Patti
Smith, Tony, 1912-1980
Westermann, H. C. (Horace Clifford), 1922-
Detroit Institute of Arts
Wadsworth Atheneum.
Art, Modern--20th century--Collectors and collecting--United States
Art--Private collections--United States
Artists--Correspondence
Photographs--Collectors and collecting--United States
Photography--Collectors and collecting
Photography--Exhibitions
Silver--United States--Collectors and collecting
Albumen prints
Art objects
Cartes-de-visite
Color negatives
Color photographs
Color slides
Contact prints
Cyanotypes
Gelatin silver prints
Photograph albums
Photographic prints
Photographs, Original
Postcards
Stereoscopic photographs
Basen, Dan
Heizer, Michael, 1944-
Martin, Agnes, 1912-2004
Morris, Robert, 1931-
Newton, Gordon, 1948-
Smith, Tony, 1912-1980
Westermann, H. C. (Horace Clifford), 1922-