Provenance
Metro Pictures, New York
Phillips, London, 27 June 2013, lot 6
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Exhibited
London, Simon Lee Gallery, Cindy Sherman: Clowns, 26 November 2004 –15 January 2005 (another example exhibited)
New York, Metro Pictures, Cindy Sherman, 8 May – 26 June 2005 (another example exhibited)
Literature
M. Schlüter, Cindy Sherman: Clowns, Munich, 2004, p. 38 (illustrated)
R. Durand, Cindy Sherman, Paris, Jeu de Paume, 2006, p. 224 (illustrated)
Catalogue Essay
'I feel I'm anonymous in my work. When I look at the pictures, I never see myself; they aren't self-portraits. Sometimes I disappear.' Cindy Sherman

This series of Clowns marks an incredible culmination of the masquerading that has defined Sherman’s work throughout her career. The make-believe she first explored in her Untitled Film Stills of the 1970s and 1980s is rediscovered and heightened by the increased emphasis on the mask and the make-up of the clown character. Here we see a reflection on the artist’s own artistic process, exposing both the humor and the horror of charade and fantasy. Whatever her character, from a naive 1970s movie star, to a tragic figure of entertainment, Sherman continues exploring the boundaries between photography, portraiture, and identity. Both clown and artist are figures whose actions and expressions are always subject to scrutiny, and perceived beneath a layer of mysticism that removes them from reality. More so than any other series, her exploration of this historical entertainer provides an intriguing parallel to the role of the artist, especially one whose career is ultimately defined by disguise.
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.
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3

Cindy Sherman

Untitled #426

signed, numbered and dated 'Cindy Sherman, 4/6, 2004' on a label affixed to the reverse of the backing board
colour photograph
201.9 x 139.1 cm. (79 1/2 x 54 3/4 in.)
Executed in 2004, this work is number 4 from an edition of 6.

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Gary Card: HYSTERICAL

London Selling Exhibition 18 July - 21 August 2019

1
Kenny Scharf
Evilcute
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2
Joyce Pensato
Who Done It
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3
Cindy Sherman
Untitled #426
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4
Paul McCarthy
Mannequin Head II
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5
Peter Saul
Duet
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6
Erik Parker
No Use in Cryin'
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7
Ugo Rondinone
Achterfebruarzweitausendundsieben
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8
Jordan Wolfson
Untitled
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9
Jamian Juliano-Villani
Don't Touch Mi Tomato
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10
This lot is no longer available.
11
Yayoi Kusama
Hanako Hi, Konnichiwa (Hello)!
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12
Takashi Murakami
And Then x 6 (Gold & White: The Superflat Method)
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13
Harold Ancart
Untitled (Full Moon in the Deep Forest)
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14
Yayoi Kusama
Miiko-Chan
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15
Yayoi Kusama
Taka-Chan Hi Konnichiwa (Hello) !!
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16
Niki de Saint Phalle
Trilogie des Obelisques
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17
Takashi Murakami
Blackbeard
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18
André Butzer
Untitled (Himmler)
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19
Carroll Dunham
Fourth Birch
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20
Carroll Dunham
Untitled (11/22/08)
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21
Nicolas Party
Blakam’s stone (watermelon, lemon, orange, pear, apple)
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22
SMACK
SPECULUM (Eden, Paradise and Hell)
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23
Ugo Rondinone
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
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24
George Condo
Overlooking Yourself
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Gary Card: HYSTERICAL

London Selling Exhibition 18 July - 21 August 2019

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Provenance

Exhibited

Literature

Catalogue Essay

Artist Biography

Cindy Sherman

3

Cindy Sherman

Untitled #426

Gary Card: HYSTERICAL

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