Cindy Sherman

Metro Pictures, New York

Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Munich, Sammlung Goetz, Jürgen Klauke - Cindy Sherman, 1994-95, p. 62, illustrated in colour

Arthur C. Danto, Cindy Sherman History Portraits, New York 1991, no. 17, illustration of another example in colour

Rosalind Krauss, Cindy Sherman 1975-1993, New York 1993, p. 231

Exhibition Catalogue, Paris, Jeu de Paume; Bregenz, Kunsthaus Bregenz; Humlebaek, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art; Berlin, Martin-Gropius Bau, Cindy Sherman, 2006-07, pp. 150, 257, illustration of another example in colour

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate although the background tends more towards midnight blue in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Close inspection reveals an extremely small abrasion towards the centre of the top left quadrant. Under raking light, there are a number of handling fingerprints visible along the left and right edges.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Forming part of Cindy Sherman’s seminal series of History Portraits, Untitled #220 effectively distils the very core of the artist’s distinctive praxis into an image of powerful yet ambiguous presence. Here, Sherman renders herself totally unrecognisable through the virtuosity of her disguise and pushes the traditional boundaries of self-portraiture to their very limit, appropriating the language of Old Master painting to create a work that defiantly questions the conventions of identity, gender and the self.

Sherman’s artistic preferences lead her more towards conceptual and performance art and through her self-portraits, seeking to challenge the meaning and the eloquence of the “image” in the traditional sense. The artist manipulates conventional practice further by transforming an original canvas through the modern camera lens. She began the series of History Portraits in 1989, gathering eclectic sources of inspiration. She stated, “When I was doing the Film Stills and the History Portraits, I researched a lot of books and magazines and made mental notes of costumes in certain periods, or poses, or expressions or backgrounds [...] Once I actually started working, that material would come out more or less naturally, unplanned. I might have a prop - a magnifying glass, say, I bought at a thrift shop - and I’d build up a character from that one prop, but without having any clear sense of what the final picture was going to be like, other than maybe the period” (the artist cited in: Exhibition Catalogue, Greenwich, Connecticut, Bruce Museum, Cindy Sherman: Works from Friends of the Bruce Museum, 2011, pp. 47-8)

In the manner of Marcel Duchamp posing as his alter-ego Rose Sélavy, Sherman portrays herself here in the masculine guise of a respectable Seventeenth Century burgher. Dressed in sober dark cloth relieved solely by the pristine white of the collar and lace cuffs, the figure’s attire indicates a person of venerable status. Sherman frequently introduces a sinister, disconcerting element into her works: here it is in the blank, almost baleful, expression of the figure and deep opaqueness of the background. The theatrical contrast of light and shadow between these garments is a direct reference to the traditional technique of chiaroscuro, used by the Seventeenth Century masters and developed by the likes of Caravaggio and more delicately applied in Rembrandt’s Self-Portraits. These arrestingly haunting paintings also bear similarities in setting and pose to Untitled #220.

Sherman’s highly provocative and obvious stylisation of Untitled #220 is a somewhat comical and subtly unsettling appropriation of the language of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century portraiture. Her radical photographs command great attention and reflection, and the present work demonstrates why Cindy Sherman stands as one of the most important innovators and an influential force in Contemporary photography. Providing a subtle, yet exquisitely nuanced, parody of the Old Master genre, Untitled # 220 is a magnificently accomplished example of this major series: a work that encapsulates the key concerns and ideals of one of the most significant photographers of the last decades.