Cindy Sherman

Metro Pictures, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 1990

Oslo, Kunsternes Hus; Helsinki, Museum of Contemporary Art, Louise Lawler, Cindy Sherman, Laurie Simmons, 1993
Visby, Gotland, Gotlands Konstmuseum, Myths & Mysticism, July – September 1994
Gothenburg, Hasselblad Center, Cindy Sherman: The Hasselblad Award 1999,  March – April 2000, p. 13, illustrated in color
Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, Extension, September 2002 – March 2003
Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, Thrice Upon a Time, September – December 2010

Arthur C. Danto, Cindy Sherman: History Portraits, London, 1991, no. 34, illustrated in color

This work is in very good condition overall. There are faint and very minor scattered surface scratches in the emulsion, which are only visible under raking light and close inspection. Framed under Plexiglas.
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.
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Between 1988 and 1990, Cindy Sherman made a series of portraits borrowed from art history. In these classically composed portraitures, allusions to the Renaissance, baroque, rococo as well as Neoclassical periods are self-evident; the images foster an investigation into the different modes of representation separating history from the present day and explore the relationship between painter/photographer and model. In fact, a handful of portraits from this series are inspired directly from actual portraits painted by Old Masters ranging from Raphael to Caravaggio, Fragonard and Ingres.

In Sherman’s reinterpretation of canonized paintings, an interesting balance between familiarity and the foreign is achieved. While historical portraiture painting was reserved for the courts and regarded with high gravity and glory, Sherman’s modern-day interpretation carries a humorous and grotesque nuance that places these portraits in the realm of caricature. Serious subjects of aristocrats, clergymen and women of leisure are adorned in Sherman’s imageries with theatrical props and artificial prostheses ranging from oversized noses to bulging bellies, deformed breasts and unibrows. Amongst these reworkings lie numerous layers of representation and criticality that ultimately define the success and irresistible draw of Cindy Sherman’s artistic output.