''Untitled #92'' is a color photograph created by

Cindy Sherman Cynthia Morris Sherman (born January 19, 1954) is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters. Her breakthrough work is often co ...

in 1981. The picture is part of the photographic series ''Centerfolds'', that she created for the magazine ''Artforum'', in 1981, but were never published there.

History and description

Sherman stars as the leading character in all the pictures, created as if for the centerfold of a magazine. She appears in this picture as a frightened young woman, dressed in what seems to be a school uniform, with a pleated skirt, wearing wet short hair, and presenting a deep sense of fear on her eyes, apparently pushed to the floor, her fingers holding her body in position. The menacing context of the picture is left unexplained to the viewer, but seems reminiscent of some of the female characters in

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

's films, like

Janet Leigh Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, Leigh was discovered at 18 by actress Norma Shearer, who helped he ...

in '' Psycho'' and

Tippi Hedren Nathalie Kay "Tippi" Hedren (born January 19, 1930) is a retired American actress. Initially a fashion model, appearing on the front covers of ''Life'' and '' Glamour'' magazines (among others), she became an actress after being discovered by d ...

, in '' The Birds''. The picture epitomises what critic Roberta Smith wrote on the ''Centerfolds'' series: "Sherman makes you understand the components of photography with a particular bluntness which is one of her trademarks. The roles of color, light, cropping, space, eye contact (or lack of it) are continually stated and restated and we read them just as we do details of clothing, hairdo, posture, flooring. Despite all this the effect is not simply didactic; everything is both laid out and convincingly, ingenuously synthesized." Despite not being published, the ''Centerfolds'' series was shown in an exhibition in 1981 to highly critical acclaim and led to Sherman being invited for the documenta 7, in 1982, and the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

Art market

A print of the photograph was sold by $2,112,000 at 16 May 2007, and another by $2,045,000 at 12 November 2013, both at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Public collections

There are prints of the photograph in the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

The Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park. Its collection, stewarded by 11 curatoria ...

The Broad The Broad () is a contemporary art museum on Grand Avenue (Los Angeles), Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. The museum is named for philanthropists Eli Broad, Eli and Edythe Broad, who financed the $140 million building that houses the Broad ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, the

National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design The National Museum (, officially the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design) is a museum in Oslo, Norway which holds the Norwegian state's public collection of art, architecture, and design objects. The collection totals over 400,000 w ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, and the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

.Untitled #92, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Untitled 92 1980s photographs 1981 in art Photographs by Cindy Sherman Color photographs Collection of the Broad Collection of the National Gallery of Australia Photographs in the Art Institute of Chicago Photographs in the Museum of Modern Art (New York City)