Sam Wagstaff at 1 Fifth Avenue, New York, 1976

Lucien Clergue was a French photographer. In 1949, he learned the basics of photography, and four years later, at a corrida in Arles, he showed his photographs to Spanish painter Pablo Picasso who, though subdued, asked to see more of his work. Within a year and a half, young Clergue worked on his photography with the goal of sending more images to Picasso. During this period, he worked on a series of photographs of travelling entertainers, acrobats and harlequins, the « Saltimbanques ». He also worked on a series whose subject was carrion. Clerque’s friendship with Picasso lasted until Picasso's death and he photographed the Master on several occassions. Clergue also illustrated books, among them a book by writer Yves Navarre. He took many photographs of the gypsies of southern France, and was instrumental in propelling the guitarist Manitas de Plata to fame. In the 1970/80s he spent some time in New York where he among other Series worked on the serie called «The Urban Nude portfolio». For this seseccion he worked from Wagstaff’s apartment (MS 65).