Four Gift Print Portraits of Paul Walter, 1975

Sam Wagstaff, a legendary fixture of the New York art scene and a fabled figure in Robert Mapplethorpe’s life, orchestrated an introduction between the artist and Paul Walter in 1975. Walter was already an avid collector of photography, having identified the genre’s significance and potential in the early days of its market. Wagstaff invited him to Mapplethorpe’s Bond Street loft for an introduction and studio visit. Walter was enchanted with what he saw: black-and-white portraits in diptych or triptych format, with distinguished art world figures such as Henry Geldzahler and Helen Marden as their subjects. Seduced by the idea of being a subject himself, Walter commissioned his own portrait by Mapplethorpe in December 1975. The present lot—a profile shot of Walter within a tight frame, his black hat exhibiting a quintessentially Mapplethorpe-esque curve—is the product of this commission. The matting treatment is of the make and style of Mapplethorpe’s unique works from this period; that it is not editioned, coupled with its impeccable provenance, speaks to its rarity and collectability.
 
Walter often found himself intertwined in the formative moments of an artist’s career. In the case of Mapplethorpe, it was a seemingly inconsequential gesture—a flower delivery—that helped to establish the future of the artist’s oeuvre: a bouquet of tulips, sent by Walter after a visit to his studio, inspired the entire series of plant photographs that would ultimately become one of Mapplethorpe’s most renowned.