Rago Auctions

Peter Hujar is one of the foremost photographers of the 20th century, using the medium to document, with great tenderness, the many artists, writers and subcultures of New York’s downtown scene. He is highly regarded for his photographs of Susan Sontag, Andy Warhol, Candy Darling, drag performers, gay culture, and artist David Wojnarowicz, who once said, “everything I made, I made for Peter.”

The present lot is a photograph of Wojnarowicz taken in 1981, the year the two met. After a brief period as lovers, they developed a close friendship and Hujar became both a dear friend and mentor to the young artist. Following Hujar’s death due to AIDS in 1987, Wojnarowicz moved into his loft and spent the remaining five years of his life living and working there, until he, too, succumbed to AIDS in 1992. American author Philip Gefter has said that a “A hallmark of Hujar’s portraiture is the invisibility of technique—a kind of visual innocence—as if the camera were not present and the subject had been happened upon.” This strikingly intimate portrait is a perfect encapsulation of his artistry, and a snapshot of one of the most significant personal and artistic relationships in the 20th century New York art scene.