"I never sat for Mapplethorpe."

My late father collected books on ballet and dance. He has a huge collection of rare and out of print books. It's a really fabulous private collection.

One of the books is a 1986 book of photography by the Dutch choreographer Hans Van Manen. Dad saw the book mentioned in a European dance magazine--only the title and publisher. Since it was not published, nor available in the US, it took quite an effort to get it. A family friend, an older Dutch woman named Hanni, was going to visit relatives so Dad asked her to purchase a copy of Portrait. She found a copy and brought it home and gave it to my dad. It was very good thing that the book came shrink-wrapped because little prim Hanni would have had a heart attack. Though the book was called Portrait, there was only a small section of portraits of such people as Marcia Haydee of the Stuttgart Ballet and obscure Dutch artists. Most of the photos were homoerotic photos of naked male dancers, with and without erections, alone, together, ejactulating, spitting, swallowing, masterbating, etc. (And a token nude female.) None of us were expecting this at all! The weirdest thing of all was the fact that one of the naked men was someone who went to ballet school with my sister and me. All of the photos are black and white and "artistic." Anyway . . .

A few years later I am working at Rizzoli Bookstore and we are having a signing for a book of fashion photography by designer Thierry Mugler. The author photo looks extremely familiar. Is it? It IS! It is one of the rare clothed portraits in Portrait! I decide to bring in the book to get Mugler to sign his photo for my dad.

We've set up the signing and Mugler has arrived. We take him to the offices to hang up his coat, etc., and I ask him to sign the Van Manen book. I try to show him the book. He is in a hurry, glances down and disdainfully says "I never sat for Mapplethorpe." and is about to brush me aside. Wait! It's not Mapplethorpe but Hans Van Manen. That gets his attention and he stops short! Hans Van Manen?! I nod and we go into the breakroom so he can look at the book. He explained that the photo was taken at three in the morning, he had just gotten off the plane and was tired. Then he left the next day and never saw the completed book. He asks if he can look at it. I tell him sure! He sits down and slowly flips through it. He is rather shocked that my father would have such a book. I explained about the dance book collection, Hanni, our suprise and everything. He takes out his pen and scrawls,

"To Jim!

The Mysterious Book!

Thierry Mugler '89"

The book signing was great. Dianne Brill, in her previous incarnation as party girl and fashion muse, spilled her glass of champagne over the balcony of the second floor onto the store manager's head. She leaned over to shout an apology, he looked up and was in love.