Provenance
Metro Pictures, New York
Literature
A. C. Danto, “Cindy Sherman History Portraits”, Munich / Paris, 1991, n.p., (illustrated); R. Krauss and N. Bryson, “Cindy Sherman 1975-1993”, New York, 1993, p. 228 (illustrated)
Catalogue Essay

“For most of her remarkable career, Cindy Sherman has been the face of Postmodernism, known for photographs in which she flaunts one assumed identity after another. She is among the most influential and productive members of the photo-appropriation artists who emerged in the early 1980s, and she is certainly the most famous. Since Ms. Sherman started dressing up for her camera in the mid-70s, her lead has been followed ad infinitum.” (R. Smith, “The Ever-Shifting Selves of Cindy Sherman, Girlish Vamp to Clown, The New York Times, May 28, 2004).
Cindy Sherman continued her groundbreaking work exploring the possibilities of occupying both sides of the camera with commencement of her History Portraits – a series executed beginning in 1988 while the artist resided in Rome.The artist took on the persona of a Renaissance portrait sitter, in full period costume appearing as a living oil painting. The present lot confronts and comments on the possibilities of presentation and representation within art. Evidenced by a prosthetic nose is a clear play on the idea of “the real” as applicable to photography. This image is ripe with layers of art theory - the sitter as object for the viewer, while the artist and the sitter are actually the same person.
One of her most accomplished compositions; the present lot enshrines in a stunning and powerful image Sherman’s ability to translate the subject from its classical composition into her own reconfigured genre of photography – i.e. the ‘History Portrait’. It is through Sherman’s unique understanding of the nature of photography and its ability to capture the ideas of re-presentation that makes her a protagonist in her field and a vital contributor to the discourse on contemporary photography.
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

25

Cindy Sherman

Untitled #212

1989

Color photograph in artist’s wooden frame.
41 ¼ x 32 ¼ in. (104.8 x 81.9 cm).
Signed and dated “Cindy Sherman 1989” and numbered of six on the reverse. This work is from an edition of six.

Estimate
$200,000 - 300,000

Contemporary Art Part I

13 Nov 2008, 7pm
New York

1
Rachel Harrison
Marlon and Indian
Estimate $70,000 - 90,000
Sold for $62,500
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2
Terence Koh
The Road to the Winterland of My Discontent, I Know Not Where I Lead
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $122,500
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3
Wade Guyton
Untitled
Estimate $90,000 - 120,000
Sold for $134,500
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4
Christopher Wool
Untitled (P489)
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
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5
Matthew Barney
Cremaster 3: Imperial Demolition
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $86,500
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6
Richard Prince
Untitled (Tire Planter)
Estimate $120,000 - 180,000
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7
Kendell Geers
The Fall
Estimate $60,000 - 80,000
Sold for $56,250
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8
Richard Prince
Untitled (Protest Painting)
Estimate $180,000 - 220,000
Sold for $134,500
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9
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
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10
Dan Flavin
Untitled (for Prudence and her new baby) a
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $242,500
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11
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Orange Butterfly)
Estimate $450,000 - 650,000
Sold for $458,500
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12
Donald Judd
Untitled (87-23 STUDER AG)
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
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13
Robert Indiana
Four Diamond Peace (Blue)
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
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14
Anish Kapoor
Untitled (Mirror)
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $782,500
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15
Donald Judd
Untitled (77/23 - Bernstein)
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for $3,218,500
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16
Ugo Rondinone
Vierzehnterjunineunzehnhundertneunundneunzig
Estimate $120,000 - 180,000
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17
Damien Hirst
Beautiful Artemis Thor Neptune Odin Delusional Sapphic Inspirational Hypnosis Painting
Estimate $3,000,000 - 4,000,000
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18
Damien Hirst
Happy Head No. 7
Estimate $70,000 - 90,000
Sold for $116,500
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19
Anselm Reyle
Untitled
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
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20
Yoshitomo Nara
Winter Long
Estimate $450,000 - 650,000
Sold for $338,500
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21
Takashi Murakami
Eye Love SUPERFLAT
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $302,500
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22
Damien Hirst
4-Fluoro-3-Nitrotoluene
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
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23
Andreas Gursky
Säulenheilige
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
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24
John Currin
Standing Nude
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
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25
Cindy Sherman
Untitled #212
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
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26
Kiki Smith
Untitled (Roses)
Estimate $250,000 - 350,000
Sold for $254,500
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27
Richard Artschwager
Untitled (Splatter Desk, Chair, Typewriter)
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
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28
David Salle
Rips in the Mirror
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
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29
John Chamberlain
BAMBOOZLEDCLARITY
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $386,500
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30
Jean-Michel Basquiat
J.D. CARD
Estimate $2,200,000 - 2,800,000
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31
Roy Lichtenstein
Mobile
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $398,500
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32
Tom Wesselmann
Study for Great American Nude # 75
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $140,500
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33
Robert Indiana
Norma Jean Loved
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $482,500
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34
Andy Warhol
$
Estimate $350,000 - 450,000
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35
Frank Stella
Brazilian Merganser
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $116,500
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36
Andy Warhol
Details of Renaissance Paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460)
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $542,500
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37
Andy Warhol
Portrait of R. C. Gorman
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
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38
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Thirty-Sixth Figure
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000
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39
John Chamberlain
Untitled
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
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40
Gary Hume
Into the Dangerous World...
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
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41
Albert Oehlen
Grazie
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $176,500
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42
Anselm Kiefer
Dein Hausritt die Finstere Welle
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,600,000
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43
Thomas Struth
Paradise 6
Estimate $60,000 - 80,000
Sold for $62,500
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44
Isa Genzken
Untitled
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $314,500
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45
Dirk Skreber
Untitled (Train)
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
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46
Thomas Schütte
Wicht
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $152,500
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47
George Condo
Big Game Hunter
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
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48
Yoshitomo Nara
Crated Room #4
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
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49
Francesco Vezzoli
La Devoradora (Evil Woman)
Estimate $70,000 - 90,000
Sold for $86,500
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50
Subodh Gupta
Magic Wands 6
Estimate $120,000 - 180,000
Sold for $140,500
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51
John McCracken
Bit
Estimate $30,000 - 50,000
Sold for $43,750
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52
Tom Friedman
Untitled
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
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53
Gert and Uwe Tobias
Untitled
Estimate $30,000 - 40,000
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54
Piotr Uklański
Untitled (Agnes)
Estimate $70,000 - 90,000
Sold for $81,700
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55
Konrad Klapheck
Das Verhängnis (Fate)
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $122,500
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56
Florian Maier-Aichen
Untitled
Estimate $60,000 - 80,000
Sold for $50,000
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Contemporary Art Part I

13 Nov 2008, 7pm New York

Create your first list.

Provenance

Literature

Catalogue Essay

Artist Biography

Cindy Sherman

25

Cindy Sherman

Untitled #212

Contemporary Art Part I

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13 Nov 2008, 7pm
New York