Cindy Sherman - Photographs London Tuesday, November 23, 2021 | Phillips

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  • 'The still must tease with the promise of a story the viewer of it itches to be told.' —Cindy Sherman

    • Provenance

      Private Collection, US
      Metro Pictures, New York
      Private Collection, Belgium
      Phillips, London, 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, 10 March 2017, lot 170

    • Literature

      R. Krauss, Cindy Sherman, 1975-1993, New York: Rizzoli, 1993, p. 19
      Cindy Sherman: Retrospective, London: Thames & Hudson, 1997, pl. 63
      Cindy Sherman: The Complete Untitled Film Stills, New York: MoMA, 2003, p. 71
      E. Respini, Cindy Sherman, New York: MoMA, 2012, pl. 47

    • 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

35

Untitled Film Still #61

1979
Gelatin silver print.
Image: 25.2 x 20.2 cm (9 7/8 x 7 7/8 in.)
Frame: 43 x 38 cm (16 7/8 x 14 7/8 in.)

Signed, dated and numbered 8/10 in pencil on the verso.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
£50,000 - 70,000 

Sold for £60,480

Contact Specialist

Rachel Peart
Head of Department, London

Yuka Yamaji
Head of Photographs, Europe

General Enquiries
+44 20 7318 4092

Photographs

London Auction 23 November 2021