Cindy Sherman

Metro Pictures, New York

Private collection, New York

Phillips, New York, 4 April 2016, Sale 40116, Lot 41

Peter Schjeldahl and Lisa Phillips, Cindy Sherman (New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1987), pl. 23

Arthur C. Danto, Cindy Sherman: Untitled Film Stills (New York, 1990), pl. 24

Rosalind Krauss, Cindy Sherman: 1975-1993 (New York, 1993), p. 53

Cindy Sherman (Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Rotterdam, 1996), pl. 19

Amanda Cruz, Elizabeth A.T. Smith, and Amelia Jones, Cindy Sherman: Retrospective (Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art; and Los Angeles: The Museum of Contemporary Art, 1997), pl. 42

Cindy Sherman: The Complete Untitled Film Stills (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2003), p. 105

Eva Respini, Cindy Sherman (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2012), p. 104

Consisting of seventy black and white images, Cindy Sherman’s widely acclaimed and best known series, Untitled Film Stills, resulted from the photographer casting herself in the role of various female archetypes that have been used throughout the history of modern cinema. These stereotypical characters range from working professionals to lonely housewives to femme fatales. Out of these constructions springs a multi-layered commentary on the representation of women in film and media.

“I wasn’t working with a raised ‘awareness’ but I definitely felt that the characters were questioning something–perhaps being forced into a certain role. At the same time, those roles are in a film: the women aren’t being lifelike, they’re acting. There are so many levels of artifice. I liked that whole jumble of ambiguity.” (Cindy Sherman, quoted in Cindy Sherman: The Complete Untitled Film Stills, p. 9)

In Untitled Film Still #37, Sherman plays a character standing by an imposing fireplace, coolly smoking a cigarette. Her all- black clothing nearly disappears into the coal-black opening of the fireplace. Gazing off screen, her detached gaze leaves us to wonder as to the circumstances that led up to this moment and what will proceed. While Sherman has assumed a character, the lack of a recognizable storyline forces the viewer to instead study her clothing, makeup, posture, bringing to light implicit biases.

This series, created over 40 years ago, continues to resonate with viewers. Complete sets of the 8-by-10-inch Untitled Film Stills are in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art and The Whitney Museum of American Art, both in New York. A print of this image is also in the collection of The Broad, Los Angeles.