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Untitled Film Still #50

A work made of gelatin silver print.
© Cindy Sherman. Courtesy Metro Pictures, New York.

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  • A work made of gelatin silver print.

Date:

1979, printed 1983

Artist:

Cindy Sherman
American, born 1954

About this artwork

One of the most celebrated figures in contemporary art, Cindy Sherman made her groundbreaking series Untitled Film Stills between 1977 and 1980. The photographs evoke the 8x10–inch film stills, or “glossies,“ taken by photographers on movie sets and used to promote Hollywood productions since the silent film era. In each photograph, Sherman poses as a star actress in an imaginary movie, deploying cinematic conventions like pose, lighting, and camera angle to imitate the look and feel of films from the 1950s and ’60s. Using carefully chosen costumes and settings, Sherman’s images draw attention to the construction of stereotypical female types in popular media. This photograph alternately depicts the objectified or vulnerable woman: Sherman’s rigid pose takes on the lifeless quality of a mannequin frozen in time, but also suggests a moment of suspense in which a startling event may take place at any second.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Cindy Sherman

Title

Untitled Film Still #50

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1979

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Edition

3 of 10

Dimensions

Image: 16.2 × 23.3 cm (6 7/16 × 9 3/16 in.); Paper: 20.5 × 25.5 cm (8 1/8 × 10 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Robert A. Taub

Reference Number

2011.813

Copyright

© Cindy Sherman. Courtesy Metro Pictures, New York.

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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