Over the course of history the visual arts in the Western world have gone through any number of transformations. However, it was in the twentieth century when non-representational, or abstract, works began being created that the cry "But is it art?" was heard most often. From Picasso's cubist reconstruction of form, the surrealists' absurdist creations, to Jackson Pollock's spatter-strewn canvases, preconceived notions of what made something a work of art went out the window. No longer would art merely glorify the wealthy and the sacred or be content with creating pretty pictures. The definition of what constituted art was, and is, continually being re-evaluated.
The history of art in the 20th century looks to have been a series of explosions occurring one after another which refused to allow for any sort of complacency on the part of the observer. Just as you were getting used to the power and density of the work of somebody like Pollock, along comes the stripped down work of the Minimalists. In the post-war world of American art it seemed like every time you turned around there was something new either waiting to be discovered or to outrage. This was the world that curator, collector, and sometime patron of the arts, Sam Wagstaff found himself in when, after a spell in advertising in the 1950s, he returned to university and graduated with a degree in art history.
If you've not heard of Sam Wagstaff don't feel too bad; it's doubtful very many people have. However a documentary movie now on DVD, Black White + Grey, from Art House Films, shows the key role he played in helping shape definitions of art. While he did curate some provocative shows and champion the work of some new and influential artists early on in his career, it was how he almost single-handedly legitimized photography as one of the fine arts which makes him most important. Intertwined with his fascination with photography was his relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Wagstaff not only became the largest single promoter of Mapplethorpe's work and ensured the success of his career, he was also his lover.
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