Provenance
Metro Pictures, New York
Literature
R. Krauss, Cindy Sherman 1975-1993, New York: Rizzoli, 1993, p. 56, 61, 225 (illustrated)
Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art; Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art; Prague, Galerie Rudolfinum; London, Barbican Art Gallery; Le CAPC-Musée d'art contemporain de Bordeaux; Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art and Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, Cindy Sherman: Retrospective, November 1997-January 2000, p. 77 and 197, no. 38 (illustrated)
C. Sherman, D. Frankel, ed., Cindy Sherman: The Complete Untitled Film Stills, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2003, p. 90-91, 159 (illustrated)
J. Rouard, ed., Cindy Sherman, Paris: Jeu de Paume & Flammarion, 2006, p. 54, 243, 316 (illustrated)
E. Respini, Cindy Sherman, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2012, p. 99 (illustrated)
Catalogue Essay
'There are so many levels of artifice. I liked that whole jumble of ambiguity.' CINDY SHERMAN

Cindy Sherman’s illustrious Film Stills series (1977-80) was produced over thirty-five years ago and yet they persist in captivating and inciting intrigue. Arresting in nature, the Film Stills represent Sherman’s first exploration of cinematic language − a foray into black and white photography that would grant her artworld recognition and a cult-like following to this day. Employing a format most commonly recognized in publicity film stills, Sherman’s series subverts the conventional expectations associated with this collectible format while confronting a larger history of objectification in cultural production.

The present lot, Untitled Film Still #36, 1979, investigates codes of representation and the construction of archetypes as perpetuated by the film industry. As with the rest of the series, the present lot finds Sherman in an ambiguous setting. Is this the photograph of Sherman as actress changing on set or are we peering further into the rabbit hole, into a movie-still featuring Sherman’s actress in character? Either way, Sherman sets a voyeuristic stage reminiscent of Hitchcock’s cinematic masterpiece Rear Window, in which the viewer’s participation is implicit− our gaze is active. The back-lit curtain that seemingly grants Sherman’s character some privacy also frames her silhouette: the curtain renders anonymity while simultaneously functioning as a screen upon which the viewer projects their own constructed narrative.

In this way, Sherman concurrently veils and exposes the myth of the photograph as evidence or as an 'index' of the real, underscoring the resonance of the constructed image as an extension of performance. To this we can add that Untitled Film Still #36, while not strictly a documentary endeavor, is in fact evidence of Sherman’s performance as a type of character. The narrative constructed by the artist is staged; however, the resulting photograph captures the moment of narrative cohesion–expressing a mood that ultimately delves into an aspect of psychological space. What we witness in the photograph is the event of Sherman conflating fictional and real events: 'I know I was not consciously aware of this thing the 'male gaze.' It was the way I was shooting, the mimicry of the style of black and white grade-Z motion pictures that produced the self-conciousness of these characters, not my knowledge of feminist theory. I suppose unconsiously, or semiconsiously at best, I was wrestling with some sort of turmoil of my own about understanding women. The characters weren’t dummies [….] they were struggling with something but I didn’t know what.' (Cindy Sherman quoted in 'Cindy Sherman: The Making of Untitled,'Cindy Sherman: The Complete Untitled Film Stills, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2003, p. 9).
Artist Biography
Cindy Sherman
American • 1954
Seminal to the Pictures Generation as well as contemporary photography and performance art, Cindy Sherman is a powerhouse art practitioner. Wily and beguiling, Sherman's signature mode of art making involves transforming herself into a litany of characters, historical and fictional, that cross the lines of gender and culture. She startled contemporary art when, in 1977, she published a series of untitled film stills.
Through mise-en-scène and movie-like make-up and costume, Sherman treats each photograph as a portrait, though never one of herself. She embodies her characters even if only for the image itself. Presenting subversion through mimicry, against tableaus of mass media and image-based messages of pop culture, Sherman takes on both art history and the art world.
Though a shape-shifter, Sherman has become an art world celebrity in her own right. The subject of solo retrospectives across the world, including a blockbuster showing at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and a frequent exhibitor at the Venice Biennale among other biennials, Sherman holds an inextricable place in contemporary art history.
View More Works

8

Cindy Sherman

Untitled Film Still #36

1979
gelatin silver print
25.4 x 20.3 cm. (10 x 8 in.)
Signed, titled,dated and numbered 'Cindy Sherman 36 1979 5/10' on the reverse.
This work is number 5 from an edition of 10.

Estimate
£60,000 - 80,000 ‡

Sold for £302,500

Contact Specialist
Peter Sumner
Head of Contemporary Art Department
psumner@phillips.com
+44 207 318 4063

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London 27 June 2013 7pm

1
Rob Pruitt
Chinese Buffet
Estimate £30,000 - 50,000 ‡
Sold for £104,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
2
Kelley Walker
Untitled
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 †
Sold for £230,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
3
Tauba Auerbach
Untitled (Fold) XV
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £386,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
4
Ugo Rondinone
No. 209 DREISSIGSTERJUNIZWEITAUSENDUNDNULL
Estimate £70,000 - 90,000 ‡
Sold for £86,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
5
Ugo Rondinone
If There were Anywhere but Desert. Friday
Estimate £350,000 - 500,000 ‡
Sold for £410,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
6
Cindy Sherman
Untitled #426
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000
Sold for £242,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
7
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled (Bolego)
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡♠
Sold for £782,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
8
Cindy Sherman
Untitled Film Still #36
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ‡
Sold for £302,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
9
Glenn Brown
Oscillate Wildly (after ‘Autumnal Cannibalism’ 1936 by Salvador Dalí)
Estimate £2,500,000 - 3,500,000 ‡♠
Sold for £2,882,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
10
Andy Warhol
Pontiac
Estimate £1,500,000 - 2,500,000 ‡
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
11
Anish Kapoor
Untitled
Estimate £1,000,000 - 1,500,000 ‡♠
Sold for £1,142,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
12
Andy Warhol
Diamond Dust Shoes
Estimate £900,000 - 1,200,000 ‡
Sold for £1,142,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
13
Andy Warhol
Skull
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡
Sold for £698,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
14
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Three Pontificators
Estimate £2,500,000 - 4,500,000 ‡
Sold for £2,210,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
15
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Three-Tiered Perspective)
Estimate £140,000 - 180,000 ‡
Sold for £170,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
16
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000
Sold for £242,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
17
Anish Kapoor
Turning the World Upside Down II
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ♠
Sold for £206,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
18
Antony Gormley
SICK
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000 ♠
Sold for £194,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
19
This lot is no longer available.
20
Andy Warhol
Electric Chairs
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000
Sold for £122,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
21
George Condo
Smiling Smoker
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
22
Marcel Broodthaers
Abbildung
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ♠
Sold for £218,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
23
Oscar Murillo
Untitled
Estimate £20,000 - 30,000 ♠†
Sold for £146,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
24
Sterling Ruby
Alabaster SR10-7
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000
Sold for £110,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
25
Jacob Kassay
Untitled
Estimate £70,000 - 90,000 ‡
Sold for £104,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
26
Rashid Johnson
Cosmic Slop
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ‡
Sold for £86,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
27
Marc Quinn
Separation of Body and Soul (Ultramarine)
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ‡♠
Sold for £104,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London 27 June 2013 7pm

Create your first list.

Provenance

Literature

Catalogue Essay

Artist Biography

Cindy Sherman

8

Cindy Sherman

Untitled Film Still #36

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.